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THE  UNIVERSITY 

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LIBRARY 


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JAMES  SWINBUR^:  ■.. 

82,  Victoria  Stredt^ 
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ELECTRIC    RAILWAY 


EflGlHEERlHG 


BY: 


EdVv^ARD    XrKVKRT.  CpsetuA.j 


flUTHOl^  OF 

EVERYBODY'S  HAND-BOOK   OF  ELECTRICITY, 

ELECTRICITY  AND  ITS  RECENT  APPLICATIONS, 
EXPERIMENTAL   ELECTRICITY, 

A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  UPON  ELECTRO-PLATING, 

ARMATURE  AND  FIELD-MAGNET  WINDING,  &c.,  <feo. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


EMBRACING    PRACTICAL    HINTS    UPON    POWER    HOUSE,    DYNAMO, 

MOTOR    AND    LINE    CONSTRUCTION    FOR 

THE    USE    OF    STUDENTS. 


LYNN,       MASS. 

BUSIER     PUBLISHING    COMPANY. 

1892. 


■,\\\\ 


COPYRIGHTED    BY 

BUBIER    PUBLISHING    COMPANY. 
1892. 


PRESS  OF  a.  H.  A  W.  A.  NICHOLS.  LYNN,  MASS. 


ERRATA. 

Alkaline  zuicate  cell,  on  page  io6,  should  read  alkaline  zincate  cell. 

Potassium  zuicate,  on  same  page,  should  read  potassium  zincate. 

-Emery  dust,  on  page  133,  should  read  sand  dust. 

Wightman   Single   Railway,  on  page  184,  should  read  Wightman  vSingle 
Reduction  Gear  Railway. 

Westinghouse  four-pole  single,  on  page  184,  should  read  Westinghouse 
four-pole  single  reduction  gear. 

Edison  slow  speed  single  rod,  on  page  184,  should  read  Edison  slow 
speed  single  reduction  gear. 

Locomotives  by  heavy  traction,  on  page  186,  should  read  locomotives  for 
heavy  traction. 

Causes  that  make  it  revolve,  on  page  182,  should  read  causes  which  make 
them  revolve. 


3  8^t)e 


/,. 


PREFACE. 


Electricity  is  rapidly  supplanting  horse-power  in  our  street  car  service, 
and  it  may  not  be  many  years  before  steam  will  give  place  to  electricity  on 
our  railways.  Already  these  indications  are  sufficient  to  be  of  interest,  not 
only  to  the  student  in  this  department  of  electrical  science,  but,  likewise, 
to  the  general  public.  Much  interest  centres  in  the  mechanism  of  such 
^       inventions,  and  in  the  modes  of  operating  them. 

"T"  In  this  book  it  has  been  my  endeavor  to  make  the  subject  as  plain  and 

^      interesting  as  the  present  advance  in  the  science  will  admit.     Illustrations 

tc      have  been  inserted  wherever  the  text  could  be  made  clearer  by  their  use. 

<fl  I  have  briefly  referred  to  steam  apparatus,  as  there  are  already  many 

j^      excellent  works  upon  that  subject,  besides  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  the 

jy7      subject  justice  in  a  treatise  of  this  size.     I  have  therefore  written  from  a 

purely  electrical  standpoint,  trusting  that  the  reader  will  find  enough  to 

instruct  and  interest  him  in  this  branch  of  electrical  science.     If  my  efforts 

in   this   direction   me.et  with   approval,  this  book  will  have  fulfilled  its 

mission. 

Some  of  the  articles  have  been  compiled  from  the  leading  electrical 
journals,  such  as  T^e  Electrical  World,  The  Electrical  Engineer,  The  Elec- 
tric Age,  The  Electrical  Review  and  The  Electrical  Industries  to  which  I 
wish  to  express  my  sincere  thanks.  I  am  also  indebted  to  the  several 
leading  electrical  companies  for  some  of  the  excellent  illustrations  con- 
tained herein. 

EDWARD  TREVERT. 
Lynn,  Mass.,  May  i,  1892. 


417561 


GO^TEflTS. 

]  PAGE 

Introduction 7 

CHAPTER   I. 
The  Power  House  and  its  Apparatus ii 

CHAPTER   II. 
Railway  Generators 15 

CHAPTER    III. 
Line  Construction 26 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Electric  Railway  Motors 41 

CHAPTER  V. 
Rheostats 70 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Electric  Heaters 75 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Trolleys 79 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Locomotives  for  Heavy  Traction 84 

CHAPTER   IX. 
Trucks 92 

CHAPTER  X. 
Car  Wiring 98 


.^^''l^^^  ■ 


COJVTENTS. 
\         ~ 

r^'^V  ^  CHAPTER  XI. 

'The  Storage  Battery  System 104 


CHAPTER  Xn. 
Some  Illustrative  Roads      .         .        .         . 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Some  General  Remarks  for  Motor  Men  .         .         .         .124 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Some  General  Remarks  for  Station  Men  ....       132 

CHAPTER   XV. 

Conclusion      . 135 

APPKNDICES. 


APPENDIX   A. 
Chronological  History  of  the  Electric  Railway  .         .         145 

APPENDIX   B. 
Fenders 14^ 

APPENDIX   C. 

Methods  of  Electrically  Controlling  Street-Car  Motors  151 

APPENDIX    D. 
Rapid  Transit .        .        .        166 

APPENDIX   E. 
Electric  Street  Railways  as  Investments       .        .        .        .        176 


Electric   Railway   Engineering. 


INTRODUCTION. 


TWENTY  YEARS  ago  the  Electric  Railway  existed  only  in  the 
imagination  of  the  electrician.  Today  it  is  a  reality.  What 
twenty  years  more  will  bring  forth  in  this  direction  remains  to  be 
seen.  Two  systems  are  now  in  operation,  the  trolley  and  the  storage 
battery.  The  trolley,  being  the  most  successful,  is  the  one  in  gen- 
eral use.  In  the  trolley  system  the  electrical  circuit  consists  of  two 
parts,  the  overhead  and  the  ground  circuit. 

In  distributing  the  current,  the  rails  are  grounded  and  form  one 
side  of  the  circuit.  If  they  have  a  good  electrical  connection  from 
one  to  the  other  through  fish-plates  already  in  position,  they  form  a 
path  of  very  low  resistance.  Where  such  connections  are  poor,  the 
rails  are  reinforced  by  a  continuous  conductor  running  the  entire 
length  of  the  line.  The  other  part  of  the  circuit  consists  partly  of  a 
hard-drawn  silicon  bronze  or  copper  contact-wire  of  small  size,  but 
great  tensile  strength,  which  is  suspended  17  to  18  feet  above  the 
track.     (A  diagram  of  the  circuit  is  shown  in  Fig  i.) 

This  contact-wire  is  termed  the  working-conductor,  and  is  carried 
over  the  centre  of  the  track,  at  the  height  named,  on  insulators  sup- 
ported by  span-wires  running  across  from  pole  to  pole  and  provided 
with  additional  insulators  at  their  ends,  or  else  by  brackets  which 
extend  from  poles  placed  on  the  side  or  centre  of  the  street.  The 
size  of  this  wire  is  independent  of  the  number  of  cars  operated,  or 
the  distance  over  which  the  line  extends. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


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INTRODUCTION.  9 

The  curves  are  formed  of  a  series  of  short  chords,  which  approxi- 
mate the  central  line  of  curvature. 

The  whole  structure  is  very  light-looking,  and  it  seems  wonderful 
that  it  can  be  made  the  medium  for  the  transmission  of  sufficient 
electrical  power  to  propel  any  number  of  cars  over  any  length  of  track. 

The  main  current,  however,  is  not  carried  by  this  small  wire,  but 
is  carried  by  a  main  wire  running  parallel  to  the  working-conductor 
and  connected  to  it  at  intervals.  This  main  conductor,  which  can  be 
carried  upon  poles  at  the  side  of  the  street  in  the  same  manner  as 
telegraph  wires,  or  else  buried  in  a  subway,  underground,  is  itself 
supplied  at  different  points  by  feeders,  which  come  from  the  main 
supply  at  the  central  station.  Without  the  use  of  these  feeders, 
which  also  can  be  reinforced  if  necessary,  the  size  and  cost  of  the 
overhead  conductors  would  be  very  largely  increased. 

By  means  of  these  feeders,  and  by  use  of  automatic  cut-outs  for 
dividing  the  line  into  sections,  which  are  placed  at  the  junctions  of 
the  feeders  and  main  conductor,  all  danger  of  an  accident  on  any 
portion  of  the  line,  disabling  the  operation  of  the  remainder  of  the 
road,  is  avoided.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  its  value 
cannot  be  too  highly  estimated. 

By  means  of  this  system,  also,  as  the  greater  portion  of  the  current 
is  carried  upon  the  main  conductor  and  only  a  small  portion  on  the 
working-conductor  over  the  middle  of  the  street,  there  is  no  change 
in  the  size  of  the  working-conductor,  and  consequently  no  stoppage 
of  travel  required,  with  an  increase  in  number  of  cars  run  or  an  ex- 
tension of  the  line. 

The  current  is  taken  from  this  working-conductor  by  a  small 
structure  on  top  of  the  car.  This  consists  of  a  light  trolley-pole 
supported  upon  a  stout  spring,  so  that  it  can  move  in  every  direction, 
and  having  at  its  upper  end  a  grooved  wheel,  making  a  running  flex- 
ible contact  on  the  under  side  of  the  working-conductor.  The  flexi- 
bility of  this  arrangement  is  very  great,  it  being  able  to  follow  with 
facility  variations  of  the  trolley-wire  four  or  five  feet  in  either  a 
horizontal  direction,  or  more  than  twelve  feet  in  a  vertical  direction. 


10  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

By  this  means  a  constant  contact  is  made  by  the  trolley-wheel  at 
different  rates  of  speed  or  around  curves,  and  for  different  heights  of 
the  trolley-wire. 

It  is  impossible  (working  underneath)  to  pull  the  trolley-wire  down  ; 
and  if  off  the  line,  the  trolley  can  be  replaced  quickly  and  easily,  even 
in  the  darkest  night. 

By  the  use  of  this  underneath  contact,  not  only  are  there  no  com- 
plicated switches  on  the  overhead  conductors,  but  all  changing  of 
contact  is  avoided  when  passing  the  turnouts. 

In  the  storage  battery  system  accumulator  cells,  or  storage  bat- 
teries, are  charged  at  a  power  house,  then  placed  upon  an  electrically 
equipped  motor  car  (generally  underneath  the  seats),  and  when  fully 
charged  will  run  twelve  hours,  after  which  time  they  are  replaced  by 
newly  charged  cells. 

In  the  construction  of  the  electric  motor  for  car  propulsion,  the 
motor  acts  simply  for  the  transformation  of  electrical  energy  with 
mechanical  energy.  A  current  of  electricity  is  sent  through  the 
armature  and  field-magnets  of  the  motor,  which  causes  the  armature 
to  revolve.  At  present  there  are  two  classes  of  electric  motors,  fast 
speed  and  slow  speed.  With  the  fast  speed  motor  the  armature 
revolves  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  motion  is  communicated  to  the 
axle  of  the  car  by  means  of  gears  and  pinions.  In  the  slow  speed 
motors  the  intermediate  gears  and  pinions  are  left  out,  there  being 
only  one  gear  and  pinion,  the  gear  upon  the  axle  of  the  car,  and  the 
pinion  upon  the  shaft  of  the  motor.  To  this  class  also  belongs  the 
gearless  motor,  whereby  the  motion  is  communicated  directly  from 
the  armature  shaft  to  the  axle  of  the  car,  explanation  of  which  will  be 
made  later  on. 

The  electric  railway  may  be  divided  into  three  parts:  ist,  the 
power  station  and  its  apparatus  ;  2d,  the  line,  and  3d,  the  electric 
motor  and  other  car  equipments.  These  we  will  now  take  up  in  their 
regular  order. 


POWER  STATION  AND  ITS  APPARATUS.  \\ 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    POWER    STATION    AND    ITS    APPARATUS. 

THE  equipment  of  a  power  station  comprises  the  steam  plane  and 
the  electrical  apparatus.  The  steam  plant  consists  of  the  boil- 
ers, engines,  etc.  The  steam  engines  furnish  the  mechanical  energy 
to  drive  the  dynamos,  and  there  are  numerous  makes  especially  de- 
signed for  this  purpose,  for  information  of  which  the  author  refers 
the  reader  to  the  standard  works  upon  steam  engines. 

The  electrical  apparatus  consists  of  dynamos,  voltmeters,  am- 
meters, feeder  boards,  switch  boards,  lightning  arresters,  circuit 
breakers,  etc.  The  general  arrangement  of  a  power  station  is  shown 
in  Fig.  2. 

Supposing  that  the  reader  is  already  familiar  with  the  general  con- 
struction of  the  dynamo,  it  need  not  be  described  here. 

The  arrangement  of  a  switch  board  is  show  in  Fig.  3. 

The  feeder,  or  connection  board,  consists  of  metal  connections,  in 
the  circuit  of  which  are  interposed  fuses.  These  fuses  are  strips  of 
metal  so  pronortioned  as  to  carry  the  right  amount  of  current.  An 
excess  of  current  causes  them  to  melt  or  blow  out,  thus  breaking  the 
circuit  and  preventing  damage  to  the  electrical  apparatus.  The  au- 
tomatic circuit  breaker  is  an  apparatus  operated  by  an  electro-magnet 
and  a  powerful  spring  which  throws  open  a  switch.  When  the  current 
exceeds  a  normal  amount  the  magnet  acts  upon  the  armature,  releas- 
ing the  switch,  which  is  thrown  open  by  springs.  The  voltmeter 
consists  of  a  needle  acted  upon  by  an  electro-magnet.  This  needle 
is  made  to  traverse  a  scale  which  is  graduated  into  degrees,  repre- 
senting so  many  volts.  From  this  instrument  the  electro-motive 
force  is  determined. 

The  lightning  arrester  is  an  apparatus  used  to  carry  away  lightning 


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ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


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POWER  STATION  AND  ITS  APPARATUS, 


13 


Figure  3, 


I — Equalizer. 

2 — Circuit  Breaker. 

3 — Ammeter, 

4 — Potential  Board. 


5— Switch. 
6^ — Voltmeter. 
7 — Rheostat. 


14  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

discharges  and  prevent  them  from  doing  damage.  If  lightning 
strikes  the  circuit  it  is  immediately  carried  to  the  ground  through  this 
instrument. 

The  ammeter  is  an  instrument  similar  to  the  voltmeter,  only  it 
gives  the  amount  of  current  in  the  circuit,  said  amount  being  meas- 
ured in  amperes. 

Dynamos  or  generators  come  under  the  head  of  power  house 
apparatus,  but  on  account  of  the  large  amount  of  space  necessary 
for  their  description  they  will  be  taken  up  in  the  next  chapter. 
There  is  a  large  variety  of  them,  all  of  which  have  their  special 
claims  to  superiority. 

As  the  dynamo  is  the  head  of  the  electric  railway,  too  much  care 
cannot  be  taken  in  selecting  one  for  its  operation.  All  the  machines 
described  in  this  book  are  of  first-class  manufacture  and  made  by 
standard  companies. 


RAILIVAY  GENERATORS.  15 


CHAPTER   II. 

RAILWAY    GENERATORS. 

SPECIAL  dynamos  are  now  constructed  for  the  generation  of  the 
electric  current  to  operate  railway  motors.  Experience  has 
taught  electricians  that  it  is  much  more  economical  to  use  large  gener- 
ators. They  are  usually  wound  to  give  a  large  current  at  a  pressure 
of  5CX)  to  600  volts.  For  example :  One  of  the  large  generators 
used  to  furnish  power  for  the  West  End  Railway  of  Boston  has  an 
output  of  25o,(X)0  watts,  which  is  equal  to  nearly  300  horse-power. 
It  is  a  multipolar,  that  is,  it  has  four  pole  pieces.  Its  armature  is  a 
Gramme  ring,  its  commutator  has  180  sections,  and  the  armature  is 
run  at  a  speed  of  only  400  revolutions  per  minute.  Ring  armatures 
are  used  almost  exclusively  in  railway  generators,  one  of  the  princi- 
pal reasons  being  that  if  a  coil  burns  out  or  is  in  any  way  damaged  it 
can  easily  be  removed  for  repair. 

The  field  magnets  of  dynamos  for  railway  work  are  usually  com- 
pound wound  in  order  to  secure  perfect  regulation  and  to  obtain  a 
constant  current. 

It  is  now  proven  that  in  winding  a  magnet  it  makes  no  difference 
so  far  as  the  magnetic  effect  is  concerned,  whether  there  are  20  turns 
of  wire,  with  5  amperes  flowing  through  them,  or  5  turns  with  20 
amperes,  the  result  is  the  same.  The  product  of  the  number  of  turns 
by  amperes  is  called  the  "ampere  turns."  In  a  series  wound  dynamo 
the  whole  current  is  carried  through  the  field  coils  which  are  connect- 
ed in  series  with  the  armature  and  external  circuit.  This  machine  is 
used  almost  exclusively  for  arc  lighting.  (A  diagram  of  a  series 
wound  dynamo  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.) 

In  the  shunt  wound  dynamos  the  field  magnets  get  their  current 
at  nearly  constant  potential,  they  being  wound  with  fine  wire  to  give 
them  a  high  resistance,  and  the  small  amount  of  current  being  re- 
placed by  a  large  number  of  turns  (See  Fig.  5). 


16 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


Figure  4. 


Figure  5. 


RAIL  WA  Y  GENERA  TORS. 


17 


In  the  compound  wound  dynamos  the  field  magnets  are  wound  in 
both  series  and  shunt,  by  which  methods  an  absolute  constant  po- 
tential is  obtained.     (See  Fig.  6.) 

For  more  detailed  information  on  the  subject  of  winding  the  reader 
isjreferred  to  the  author's  book,  "Armature  and  Field-Magnet  Wind- 
ing." Many  smaller  differences  of  mechanical  and  electrical  con- 
struction are  adopted  by  the  several  electrical  companies,  which  can 
best  be  understood  by  a  brief  description  of  their  machines,  to  which 
now  let  us  devote  our  attention. 

An  illustration  of  the  Short  Electric  Raihvay  Generator,  of  150 
horse  power,  is  shown  in  Fig  7.     It  is  a  very  massive  machine  and  is 


000000000  010  0000 


Figure  6. 

capable  of  delivering  a  current  of  225  amperes  at  a  pressure  of  500 
volts.  The  field  magnet  frame  is  one  large  casting,  weighing  over 
3,000  pounds,  of  soft  iron  slowly  annealed.  To  this  are  bolted  eight 
field  magnets,  carrying  the  shunt  and  series  coils,  and  provided  with 
pole  pieces  of  peculiar  shape,  arranged  for  side  presentation  to  the 
armature.  The  armature  of  this  generator  possesses  distinctive 
characteristics.  It  is  of  the  Gramme  ring  construction.  The  massive 
spider  carrying  the  foundation  ring  upon  which  the  armature  is  built, 
is  keyed  to  a  shaft  nine  feet  long  and  six  inches  in  diameter.     The 


18 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


RAILWA  V  GENERA  TORS.  \  9 

armature  core  is  formed  of  thin  sheet  iron  wound  spirally  on  the 
foundation.  By  this  method  of  winding  each  of  the  200  coils  is 
exposed  to  the  air  on  all  sides,  thus  receiving  perfect  ventilation.  The 
diameter  of  the  armature  is  36  inches.  Another  feature  is  in  the 
commutator  box,  where  there  is  an  adjustable  ball  bearing  thrust 
collar  containing  several  hundred  balls,  and  so  arranged  as  to  carry 
the  armature  thrust  in  either  direction  without  heating.  The  com- 
mutator has  200  segments,  so  that  the  pressure  between  adjacent 
segments  is  unusually  small  and  there  is  no  sparking.  There  are 
four  brushes,  which  are  held  together  by  two  independent  collars  and 
sets  of  brush  holders. 

The  Thomson-Houston  300  H.  P.  Railway  Generator  is  a  multi- 
polar dynamo  and  the  fields  are  compound  wound  (see  Fig.  8)  and 
has  an  output  of  250,000  watts,  which  is  equal  to  about  300  h.  p.  The 
armature  is  of  the  Gramme  ring  pattern  and  so  constructed  that 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  the  best  insulation,  and  the  danger  due  to 
great  difference  of  potential  between  any  two  of  its  conductors  is 
avoided.  This  is  a  most  valuable  and  important  feature,  as  in  case  of 
accident  or  injury  to  any  coil,  it  can  be  easily  repaired  without  affect- 
ing in  any  way  the  remaining  coils.  The  construction  of  the  arma- 
ture affords  excellent  ventilation,  which  is  very  necessary  in  dynamo 
machines,  particularly  as  their  size  is  increased,  for  the  reason  that 
the  radiating  surface  does  not  increase  in  proportion  to  the  size  of 
the  mass. 

In  order  that  the  conductors  inside  the  armature  may  be  held 
securely  in  place,  an  adjustable  internal  wire  support  has  been  de- 
signed. When  the  armature  is  being  wound  the  wires  are  forced 
into  position  so  that  they  cannot  sag,  vibrate,  or  chafe  the  insulation. 
All  tendency  to  short  circuiting  is  thereby  avoided  and  the  position 
of  the  wires  assured. 

The  commutator  has  180  sections.  In  practice,  the  generator  will 
have  its  fields  separately  excited,  although  the  connection  at  the 
switch-board  is  so  arranged  that  by  throwing  a  switch  the  dynamo 
can  be  made  self-exciting,  should  emergency  require  it. 


20 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


Figure  8. 


RAILWAY  GENERATORS.  21 

The  movement  of  the  brushes  is  affected  by  means  of  the  shaft,  on 
which  a  small  worm  is  attached,  and  which  in  turn  works  in  a  rack 
fastened  to  the  yoke.  By  means  of  this  a  very  fine  adjustment  of 
the  brushes  can  be  made.  The  worm  locks  the  yoke  so  that  it  cannot 
be  moved  except  by  hand. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  this  generator  is  the  ar- 
rangement for  lubrication  and  good  alignment  of  the  bearings.  The 
boxes  are  made  in  two  parts  and  are  entirely  separate  from  the 
stands.     On  the  top  of  the  stand  is  a  seat. 

The  total  floor  space  occupied  by  the  300  h.  p.  generator  is  13  ft. 
3  1-2  in.  X  7  ft.  I  in.  The  height  of  the  machine  is  a  little  less  than 
8  ft.  The  pulley  is  43  in.  in  diameter  and  has  a  35  in.  face.  The 
speed  is  400  revolutions  per  minute  and  the  dynamo,  complete, 
weighs  about  21  tons. 

The  Mather  Electric  Railway  Generator.  —  Recognizing  the  de- 
mand for  power  transmission  by  means  of  the  electric  current,  the 
Mather  Electric  Company  has  brought  out  a  series  of  machines  for 
that  purpose.  The  generators  are  built  up  to  30,000,  50,000  and 
75,000  watts  with  four  poles,  and  180,000  watts  with  six  poles. 
Drum  armatures  are  used  in  all  the  machines.  In  the  four-pole 
machines  the  winding  is  such  that  the  current  has  but  Iwo  paths 
through  the  armature  wires,  and  by  a  special  method,  devised  by 
Prof.  Anthony,  no  two  wires  having  any  great  difference  of  potential 
are  brought  near  each  other. 

Fig.  9  represents  the  75,000-watt  generator,  showing  the  general 
character  of  all  the  four-pole  machines,  with  the  field  magnet  in  one 
casting.  In  the  i8o,C)00-watt  six-pole  machine  the  field  magnet  is  cast 
in  two  halves,  but  divided  through  the  middle  of  two  opposite  poles 
instead  of  across  the  magnetic  circle. 

The  New  Multipolar  Generator,  made  by  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  is  shown  in 
Fig  ID.     In  this  machine  the  pole  pieces  project  radially  from  the 


22 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


^1 


Figure  9. 


RAILIVAY  GENES  A  TORS. 


23 


interior  of  the  cylindrical  yoke  pieces,  and  by  the  peculiar  construc- 
tion ready  access  may  be  had  to  the  field  coils  and  armature.  The 
machines  are  all  wound  for  500  volts,  E.  M.  F.,  but  by  means  of  a 
rheostat  this  can  be  raised  to  550  or  600  volts.  They  are  self-excit- 
irig  and  compound  wound  machines.  The  armature  is  a  distinctive 
feature.  It  is  of  the  Siemens'  type,  the  core  of  which  is  built  up  in 
the  usual  way,  of  a  large  number  of  thin  iron  discs  which  are  rigidly 
keyed  to  the  shaft.  The  wires  are  not  placed  on  the  exterior  of  the 
core,  as  is  usually  done,  but  are  placed  in  insulating  tubes  which  are 
imbedded  in  the  iron  of  the  core.     This  construction  obviates  the 


Figure    10. 


use  of  binding  wires.  A  special  method  of  winding  is  used,  and  the 
amount  of  wire  necessary  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  commuta- 
tors are  long  and  massive.  The  brush  holders  are  composed  of 
independent  holders,  thus  allowing  each  carbon  brush  to  be  removed 
without  disturbing  the  others.  The  machine  is  carefully  regulated, 
designed  for  railway  use  and  to  require  a  minimum  amount  of  atten- 
tion. 


24 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


Figure    ii. 


RAILWAY  GENERATORS.  25 

Two  Hundred  Kilo-  Watt  Edison  Generator.  —  In  the  accompany 
ing  illustration  (see  Fig.  1 1),  is  shown  the  latest  form  of  Edison  rail- 
way generator  of  200  kilo-watts  capacity.  As  will  be  seen,  it  is  of 
standard  bi-polar  type,  the  general  features  of  which  are  so  well 
known  as  to  need  no  further  description.  To  adapt  this  generator 
to  the  demands  of  electric  railway  service,  its  field  has  been  supplied 
with  a  compound  winding,  easily  adjustable  to  meet  the  necessary 
requirements  by  means  of  a  shunt  coil,  which  is  conveniently  placed 
in  the  back  board  of  the  keeper.  The  close  adjustment  obtained  by 
this  arrangement  greatly  facilitates  the  operation  of  generators  in 
parallel,  and  forms  one  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this  particu- 
lar type.  The  series  field  is  composed  of  sections  wound  on  spools, 
which  are  slipped  separately  over  the  cores,  and  then  properly  con- 
nected. In  the  event  of  a  fault  occuring,  the  spool  in  which  it 
develops  can  be  removed  and  another  substituted  at  once ;  this  not 
only  prevents  delay,  but  makes  any  repairs  necessary  a  matter  of 
comparatively  small  expense.  The  armature  is  so  wound  that  it  has 
two  distinct  windings,  and  each  end  is  furnished  with  its  commuta- 
tor, rocker-arm  and  brush  holders.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
armature  is  low,  due  to  the  bearings  being  located  to  the  base 
frame,  great  stability  is  secured.  Self-oiling  bearings  and  carbon 
brushes  help  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  attention  necessary  to  the 
operation  of  a  dynamo. 


26 


ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER    III. 


LINE    CONSTRUCTION. 


THE  "overhead  trolley"  system  of  electric  railroads  is  undoubt- 
edly the  best  in  active,  practical  use  in  this  country.  The  wire 
from  which  the  current  is  taken  is  suspended  over  the  centre  of  the 
track,  about  fifteen  feet  above  the  rails.  A  long  arm  or  pole,  called 
the  trolley,  hinged  upon  the  car  roof  is  raised  by  springs,  so  that  a 
shoe  or  wheel  at  the  outer  end  is  pressed  upward  against  the  lower 
surface  of  the  "trolley  wire." 

The  current  from  the  dynamos  at  the  generating  station  comes 
through  this  wire,  down  the  trolley  arm,  through  the  motors  to  the 
rails,  thence  back  to  the  dynamos  to  make  the  circuit  complete. 

In  discussing  the  system  it  will  be  well  to  consider  it  under  several 
sub-divisions. 

I.     Supports    JB?^^,kets. 

Cross  Wires  for  Suspension. 

Single  Insulation. 
Double  Insulation. 


2. 


3.     Insulators  or  Hangers 


A.  Ears   i  Clamping. 

^  ^^^^   \  Soldered. 

5.  Switches,  Frogs,  and  Crosses. 

6.  Sections  and  Feeders. 

7.  Guard  Wires. 

8.  Roadbed  and  Rails. 

9.  Return  Circuit  (Ground). 
10.  Double  System. 


I  St.     When  the  ordinary  pole  construction  is  to  be  used,  the  poles 
should  be  set  at  the  very  outset,  that  the  soil  may  get  securely 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION. 


.27 


packed  about  them  before  the  real  strain  on  the  wires  begins.  Poles 
at  least  eight  inches  diameter  or  square  should  be  used.  The  first 
roads  equipped  used  weaker  supports,  which  bent  and  sprung  so  as 
to  loosen  the  cross  wires  and  allow  the  trolley  wire  to  sway  and 
vibrate.  When  first  erected  the  poles  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
street  should  incline  from  each  other,  so  that  by  the  time  the  cross 
wires  are  of  the  necessary  tightness,  the  poles  will  stand  erect. 
(Fig  12.)  If  this  precaution  is  observed  and  the  poles  are  set  six  to 
eight  feet  deep,  well  packed  with  flat  stones,  the  construction  will 
require  no  repairs  for  ten  years.     It  is  well  to  coat   the  lower  ends 


Figure  12. 

of  the  poles  with  tar  to  prevent  rotting.  Iron  poles  made  by  differ- 
ent sizes  of  pipes  slid  into  each  other,  or  girder  iron  is  used  where 
exceptional  strains  are  to  be  borne. 

The  arrangement  of  poles  on  opposite  sides  of  the  street  is  desir- 
able when  the  tracks  are  in  the  centre  of  the  street.  If  the  rails  are 
close  to  one  side  the  "Bracket  Suspension  "  is  the  neatest  and  most 
desirable.  Only  one  line  of  posts  is  needed,  and  on  these  are 
fastened  brackets  with  arms  about  six  feet  long,  reaching  to  the 
centre  of  the  track.  The  arms  of  the  brackets  are  made  of  one  and 
one-half  inch  gas  pipe  and  thus  combine  lightness  with  rigidity. 
(See  Fig.  13.) 


28 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


In  the  case  of  a  double  track  road,  it  is  sometimes  convenient  to 
use  a  line  of  posts  erected  between  the  tracks,  with  double  brackets, 
reaching  to  the  centre  of  both  tracks,  one  piece  of  pipe  extending 
through  the  post  to  overhang  the  tracks  on  both  sides.     (See  Fig.  14.) 


Figure  13. 


Figure  14. 

2d.  The  cross  wires  are  usually  of  galvanized  iron  about  three- 
sixteenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  At  one  post  the  end  can  be 
secured  in  a  screw  eye  or  an  eye  bolt ;  the  other  end  should  be 
fastened  to  an  eye  bolt  with  shank  long  enough  to  pull  the  wire 
tight,  and  also  to  take  up  slack  wire  after  a  period  of  use.  (Fig.  1 5 
shows  the  arrangement.) 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION.  29 

Depending  on  the  kind  of  insulators  used,  the  cross  wires  are 
sometimes  one  continuous  piece,  at  other  times  they  are  made  in  two 
pieces  (three  for  double  tracks),  separated  where  fastened  to  the 
insulator.  Sometimes,  still  another  parting  is  made  to  insert  a 
lightning  arrester. 

For  supporting  frogs  or  other  heavy  pieces  incident  to  the  system, 
stronger  and   even   double  wires  are   necessary.     "Anchoring  and 


Figure  15. 


-^^^^^^ 


^^^ 


Figure  16. 


Figure  17. 


strain  wires  "  are  of  the  nature  of  cross  wires.  Where  section  in- 
sulators (described  later)  are  inserted,  diagonal  strain  wires  are 
necessary  to  relieve  the  somewhat  weak  structure  of  the  insulating 
material. 

3d.  The  trolley  wire  must  be  well  insulated  from  all  electrical 
connection  with  the  earth.  The  poles,  though  usually  of  wood,  can- 
not be  depended  upon  to  answer  this  requirement.  The  simplest 
and  earliest  method  was  to  insert  an  ordinary  white  glass  insulator 


30 


ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


in  the  cross  wire  on  each  side  of  the  centre,  or  place  where  the 
trolley  wire  was  located.     (See  Fig.  i6.) 

There  is  a  short  section  of    wire  between  the    two   insulators, 
from  which  the  trolley  wire  can  be  suspended.     Such  insulators  are 


Figure  19. 


Figure  18. 


AUVW\V\V 


.NWWWWW 


Figure  21. 


Figure  20. 


^\ 


Figure  22. 


Figure  23. 


not  much  used,  however,  on  account  of  their  frequent  breakage,  and 
poor  insulating  properties,  when  covered  with  moisture.  Sometimes 
a  double  insulator,  consisting  of  two  straps  of  iron,  rivetted  together 
with  the  glass  between,  is  practicable.     (See  Fig.  17.) 

Such  a  device  is  usually  employed  in  some  portion  of  a  strain 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION. 


31 


wire.  A  wooden  cone  in  a  sheet  metal  case  makes  a  tolerably  good  insu- 
lator. A  screw  eye  in  the  apex,  another  in  the  base,  affords  means  for 
suspending  itself  and  the  trolley  wire  to  the  cross  wire.  (See  Fig,  i8.) 
Mechanically,  this  construction  is  somewhat  weak.  An  excellent 
form  is  shown  in  Fig.  19.  It  is  made  of  cast-iron  with  a  hole  in  the 
centre  about  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in  diameter.  Projecting 
arms  on  each  side  are  cast  with  a  twist  and  groove,  so  that  the  cross 


Figure  24. 


'O 


Figure  25. 


Figure  26. 


Figure  27. 

wire  can  be  bent  under  and  over  in  an  S-shaped  curve.  Once  in 
position  it  is  not  easily  dislodged. 

A  bushing  and  cap  of  moulded  insulating  material,  such  as  mica 
and  shellac,  or  rubber  and  clay,  fills  the  hole  and  allows  for  a  bolt  (de- 
scribed later).     Fig.  20  shows  one  construction. 

This  form  of  insulation  is  also  used  in  the  "arch  and  Bracket  sus- 
pension."    (Figs.  21  and  22.) 

A  form  of  insulator  and  holder  considerably  used  consists  of  an 


32  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY    ENGINEERING. 

inverted  cup  of  iron,  provided  with  ears  for  attaching  the  cross  wires. 
A  large  headed  bolt  is  held  in  the  cup  by  rosin  or  sulphur  cast  to 
fill  the  intervening  space.     (Fig.  23.) 

Double  insulation  as  applied  to  line  construction  consists  in  insu- 
lating the  metal  body  of  the  holder  from  the  cross  wires.  Ordinary 
porcelain  knobs  set  into  forked  ends  in  the  arms  of  the  holders  are 
used.     (Fig.  24.) 

On  curves  the  trolley  wire  needs  to  be  drawn  tight  from  one  side 
only  and  the  holders  need  lugs  for  attaching  the  cross  wires  only  on 
one  side. 

4th.     The  ears  are  the  parts  to.,  which  the  copper  trolley  wire  is 


Figure  28. 


Figure  29. 

directly  attached.  They  are  connected  with  the  insulator  above  and 
hold  up  the  wire  beneath.  Two  forms  are  commonly  used :  those 
rigidly  attached,  usually  soldered,  or  those  only  clamped  and  hence 
adjustable.  The  former  are  made  of  cast  brass  with  a  lug  projecting 
upward  to  catch  on  a  hook  of  the  insulator  or  to  screw  upon  a  bolt, 
(shown  in  Figs.  18  and  20).  The  lower  edge  of  the  ear  is  grooved  to 
receive  the  trolley  wire.  The  size  of  wire  usually  employed  is  five- 
sixteenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.     The  ear  is  about  a  foot  long  and 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION.  33 

is  carefully  soldered  its  entire  length,  to  the  wire.  (See  Figs.  25 
and  26). 

On  account  of  the  sagging  of  the  wire  between  the  places  of  sup- 
port, the  solder  is  apt  to  loosen  at  the  ends  of  the  ears  ;  for  this  rea- 
son the  ends  are  usually  very  slim,  so  as  to  bend  easily  with  the 
wire;  sometimes  projections  are  cast  on  the  ends  that  are  bent 
around  the  wire  and  soldered  as  shown  in  Fig.  27,  one  end  showing 
the  shape  before  soldering. 

Clamping  ears  are  made  in  two  pieces,  tightened  against  each 
other  with  the  trolley  wire  between.  These  have  this  advantage 
that  when  the  poles  bend  or  change  their  position  or  the  wire  sags 
or  stretches  they  can  be  moved  to  correspond.  They  have  this  dis- 
advantage that  being  more  bunchy  than  the  soldered  ears  the  trolley 
wheel  is  more  likely  to  rebound  when  striking  them,  and  draw  a 
flash  of  fire  that  burns  both  wheel  and  wire.     (Fig.  28.) 

The  weight  and  motion  of  the  wire  sometimes  bends  down  the 
thin  edges  of  the  ears,  and  allows  the  line  to  fall  into  the  street. 
A  modification  of  this  form  has  been  used,  consisting  of  a  brass  body 
somewhat  like  the  soldered  ear,  but  having  a  piece  of  sheet  copper 
wrapped  around  under  the  trolley  wire  and  fastened  with  screws  or 
rivets.  The  trolley  wheel  flashes  at  every  passage  across  the  sheet 
metal  and  soon  destroys  itself. 

5th.  Switches,  frogs  and  crosses  for  the  trolley  wire  are  located 
directly  over  the  correspondingly  named  portions  of  the  track.  They 
are  made  of  cast  brass  trough-shaped  with  the  wire  entering  the  cen- 
tre of  the  opening.  The  trolley  wheel  runs  along  under  the  wire 
directly  into  the  frog,  where  the  wire  no  longer  has  any  directive 
power,  the  walls  of  the  trough  keeping  the  wheel  in  place.  On  leav- 
ing the  frog  the  trolley  wheel  will  be  drawn  into  the  trough  corre- 
sponding to  that  track  which  the  car  has  just  entered.  "Two-way," 
"  three-way,"  switches  or  frogs  and  acute  and  right  angle  crosses  are 
shown  in  Figs.  29,  30,  31  and  32. 

The  trolley  wire  itself  passes  on  top  of  the  brass  body  of  the  frogs 
or  switches,  and  supports  them  by  means  of  bolts  and  clamps. 


34 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


6th.  At  first  thought,  it  would  seem  desirable  that  the  overhead 
wire  be  strung  in  one  continuous  length.  If  this  were  done,  how- 
ever, an  accident  such  as  the  falling  of  any  part  of  the  line,  would 
necessitate  a  shutting  down  of  the  whole  system.  It  is  well  to  divide 
the  road  into  portions  or  sections  and  supply  each  independently 
with  electricity.  Then  in  case  of  accident  it  is  possible  still  to  keep 
the  greater  part  of  the  road  in  operation.  Some  electricians  advo- 
cate sections  five  hundred  feet  long,  others  a  quarter  or  half  a  mile 


Figure  30. 


Figure  31. 

in  length.  Of  course  the  break  between  two  sections  must  be  small 
in  order  that  the  trolley  wheel  may  have  a  continuous  path.  Two 
ears,  into  each  of  which  one  end  of  the  wire  is  attached,  are  held 
close  to  each  other  by  an  insulated  iron  ring  bent  in  a  diamond  shape. 
The  horns  or  ends  of  the  ears  are  allowed  to  approach  each  other  to 
a  distance  of  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch.     (See  Fig.  33.) 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION, 


35 


A  flash  usually  follows  the  passage  of  the  wheel  across  the  break, 
and  lately  it  has  become  customary  to  make  several  small  breaks  or 
separations  rather  than  a  single  large  one. 

A  separate  supply  wire  or  "  feeder  "  from  the  switch  board  at  the 
generating  station  is  run  to  each  section  ;  fuses  or  switches  control 
the  amount  of  current  proper  for  the  demands  of  each.  Thus  it  is 
possible  to  shut  down  or  start  up  any  part  of  the  road  by  shifting 
switches  at  the  power  house.     The  feeders  are  attached  to  poles 


Figure  32. 


^S^ 


ir=\ 


Figure  33. 

along  the  route  and  at  proper  intervals  branches  are  let  out  along  the 
cross  wires  and  attached  to  the  ears  that  support  the  trolley  wire. 

7th.  Should  telegraph,  telephone,  or  other  wires  fall  across  the 
trolley  wire  a  part  of  the  current  would  be  diverted,  and  besides 
causing  some  danger  to  operatives,  would  melt  the  delicate  instru- 
ments connected  with  the  wires.  As  a  precaution  against  this 
emergency,  franchises  for  the  construction    of   the   electric   roads 


36  ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  V  ENGINEERING. 

usually  call  for  iron  "  guard  wires  "  to  be  stretched  above  and  par- 
allel with  the  trolley  wire.  Any  falling  wires  will  then  be  intercepted. 
Sometimes  these  guard  wires  are  strung  on  insulators  that  are  on 
horn-like  arms  extending  from  the  trolley  wire  hangers. 

It  is  better  to  get  these  wires  some  distance  from  the  trolley  wire, 
say,  two  or  three  feet.  To  accomplish  this,  the  regular  cross  wires 
should  be  attached  to  the  poles,  not  at  the  upmost  point,  but  a  few 
feet  from  the  top ;  above  these  there  will  then  be  room  for  other 
cross  wires  whose  whole  duty  will  be  to  support  the  guards. 


Figure  34. 

8th.  Electric  cars  are  very  heavy,  for  their  size ;  but  heavy 
weights,  if  supported  on  springs,  can  easily  be  carried  on  tracks 
without  serious  shocks  to  the  rails.  Electric  motors  under  cars  are 
partly  suspended  on  an  elastic  cushion  or  spring.  The  greater  part 
of  the  weight,  however,  is  hung  directly  on  the  axle.  The  whole 
inertia  of  the  heavy  motors  is  carried  to  the  rails.  As  the  wheels 
pass  from  one  rail  to  the  next  the  shock  amounts  to  a  sledge  hammer 
blow,  and  the  ordinary  rails  used  on  horse-car  lines  are  quite  unsuit- 
able for  electric  railway  use. 


LINE  CONSTRUCTION. 


37 


9th.  The  rails  for  electric  lines  should  be  much  like  those  for 
steam  cars.  They  must  be  stiff  enough  to  resist  appreciable  bending 
as  the  car  moves  along,  and  have  enough  body  of  metal  to  prevent 
their  edges  and  ends  from  losing  their  shape  by  the  hammering 
strains.  Electric  cars  have  been  run  over  existing  horse  traction 
lines,  but  the  result  has  been  that  the  tracks  have  become  loosened 
from  the  ties  and  crushed  out  of  shape  at  the  joints.     A  construction 


Figure  35. 


Figure 


similar  to  such  roads  but  with  considerably  heavier  materials  makes 
a  very  fair  road,  but  what  is  called  the  "girder  rail"  with  chair  sup- 
ports attached  to  cross  ties,  is  without  doubt  the  very  best.  The 
rails  are  deep  and  rest  on  brackets  of  wrought  iron,  which  in  turn 
are  nailed  to  ordinary  cross  ties.  The  result  is  a  track  that  depends 
for  its  support  on  parts  covered  deeply  with  gravel  or  paving  stones 
and  which  cannot  yield  or  loosen.     (See  Fig.  36.) 


38 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


The  rods  held  by  nuts  at  each  end  are  of  course  to  be  used  without 
stint. 

Figure  37  shows  a  plan  of  Single  Curve  Overhead  Construction, 

Figure  38  shows  a  plan  of  Double  Curve  Overhead  Construction. 

loth.  Thus  far  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  means  of  getting 
the  power  to  the  moving  cars.     The  electricity  must  have  a  return  in 


Figure  37. 

order  to  complete  its  circuit,  and  after  doing  its  work  is  expected  to 
get  back  to  the  dynamos  without  further  trouble  or  expense  ;  but  the 
cheapness  of  obtaining  this  return  depends  upon  certain  conditions. 
All  the  rails  must  be  carefully  connected  together  "electrically." 
Mere   mechanical    contact   at    the    "fish  plates"  is  nothing   to   be 


LINE   CONSTRUCTION. 


39 


depended  upon,  as  these  parts  are  very  rusty  and  often  loose.  Cop- 
per wire  must  be  rivetted  or  soldered  to  the  rail  to  connect  it  with  its 
neighbor.  It  is  well  to  lay  a  copper  wire  in  the  earth  parallel  with 
the  tracks,  connected  to  every  rail.  Then  in  case  one  or  more  rails 
are  removed  for  renewal  or  repairs,  the  electric  circuit  will  not  be 
interrupted.     At  the  generating  station  heavy  wires  are  connected 


Figure  38. 

with  the  rails  and  with  the  earth  wire,  these  leading  to  the  negative 
side  of  the  switch-board. 

nth.  Sometimes  objections  are  raised  against  using  the  ground 
or  rails  for  a  return  circuit.  These  objections  are  usually  sentimen- 
tal or  imaginary,  A  substantial  one  is  urged  by  owners  of  telephone 
lines,  as  the  induction  from  a  single  trolley  wire  causes  disturbances 


40  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

in  the  telephone  receivers.  This  induction  is  due  to  this  fact,  that 
the  line-wire  of  both  telephone  and  railroad  systems  are  near  and 
parallel  to  each  other  and  both  use  a  ground  return.  The  evil  can 
be  remedied  by  either  systems  being  equipped  without-going  and 
return  wires  close  to  each  other.  It  is  easy  for  the  telephone  com- 
panies to  do  this,  and  indeed  for  long  distance  transmission  is  always 
necessary. 

A  double  overhead  trolley  system  is  complicated  and  dangerous ; 
the  wires  having  the  whole  difference  of  potential  are  close  to  each 
other,  and  difficult  to  keep  apart.  Switches  and  frogs  make  an 
almost  interminable  network.  In  the  single  trolley  system,  the  cur- 
rent passing  from  the  wheels  to  the  rails  causes  such  a  heating  or 
welding  action  at  the  points  of  contact  that  the  traction  is  consid- 
erably increased  over  the  amount  due  to  mere  friction.  In  the 
double  system  this  beneficial  advantage  is  not  attainable,  and  thus 
aside  from  the  cost  of  the  insulation  compares  unfavorably  with  the 
other  and  simpler  system. 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  MO  TORS.  41 


CHAPTER    IV. 


ELECTRIC    RAILWAY    MOTORS. 


IN  the  construction  of  the  electric  motor  for  car  propulsion,  the 
motor  acts  simply  for  the  transformation  of  electrical  energy  with 
mechanical  energy.  A  current  of  electricity  is  sent  through  the 
armature  and  field  magnets  of  a  motor  which  causes  the  armature  to 
revolve.  Formerly  fast  speed  motors,  were  used  in  electric  railway 
service,  in  which  the  armature  revolved  with  great  rapidity,  necessi- 
tating the  use  of  numerous  gears  and  pinions  by  which  the  motion 
was  communicatH  to  the  axle  of  the  car.  At  present,  slow  speed 
motors  are  almost  wholly  used,  by  which  the  intermediate  gears  and 
pinions  are  left  out,  there  being  only  one  gear  and  pinion,  the  gear 
being  upon  the  axle  of  the  car  and  the  pinion  upon  the  shaft  of  the 
motor.  There  ?'e,  however,  some  exceptions  to  the  rule.  These 
exceptions  are  in  gearless  motors,  particulars  of  which  will  be  given 
later  in  this  chapter.  We  will  now  call  attention  to  the  different 
styles  of  railway  motors. 

The  Wightmaii  Single  Reduction  Railway  Motor. — Among  the 
first  to  recognize  the  desirability  of,  as  well  as  the  possibility  of, 
eliminating  one  set  of  transmission  gears  in  electric  street  railway 
cars  was  Mr.  Merle  J.  Wightman,  who,  as  electrician  of  the  Wight- 
man  Electric  Manufacturing  Co.,  of  Scranton,  Pa.,  over  a  year  ago 
commenced  experiments  toward  the  development  of  a  slow-speed 
single  reduction  motor.  The  results  of  this  work  are  embodied  in 
the  motor  shown  in  the  accompanying  engraving,  Fig.  39,  from  which 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  "Kennedy"  type  of  field-magnet  is  em- 
ployed. This  form  of  field-magnet  has  the  advantage  of  almost  com- 
pletely covering  the  field  coils  and  producing  an   "iron-clad"  motor. 


42 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  V  ENGINEERING. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS.  43 

It  gives  a  very  strong  and  efficient  field  and  all  four  poles  are  excited 
by  two  field  windings. 

The  armature  is  of  the  Gramme  type  (see  Fig.  42),  and  the  com- 
mutator is  cross-connected  so  that  but  two  brushes  are  used,  placed 
at  an  angle  of  90  degrees  and  on  top  of  the  commutator. 

The  cross-connecting  of  the  commutator  is  accomplished  in  a 
remarkably  simple  way.  All  the  crossing  cables  are  formed  symmet- 
rically into  a  flat  disc  which  is  firmly  bolted  to  the  head  of  the  com- 
mutator and  becomes  an  integral  part  of  it.  In  this  way  all  possi- 
bility of  vibration  and  risk  of  breakage  is  overcome.  The  commuta- 
tor lead-wires  are  all  flexible  cable  after  the  Wightman  Company's 


Figure  40. 

well-known  method  of  armature  winding.  These  lead-wires  are  fas- 
tened to  the  commutator  without  screws  and  in  such  a  way  that  they 
can  be  detached  in  a  few  minutes,  when  it  becomes  necessary  to 
remove  a  commutator.  The  armature  is  mounted  within  a  strong, 
continuous  frame  forming  part  of  the  field-magnets.  The  bearings 
are  self-oiling  and  dust-proof  and  are  designed  to  be  used  with 
grease,  oil,  or  both. 

Either  field  winding  is  removable  without  disturbing  the  other  or 
the  armature,  each  winding  being  made  up  of  separate  coils,  one  of 
which  is  shown  in  Fig.  40.  The  removal  of  two  bolts  at  one  end 
makes  it  possible  to  lift  out  one  of  the  fields,  after  which  the  arma- 


44 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


ture  can  be  taken  out.  The  top  field  pole  is  hinged  at  one  end  for 
convenience  in  removing  the  field  or  arrhature.  The  ratio  of  the 
reduction   of  the  gearing  is  4.4  to    i,  the  armature  pinion  having 


Figure  41. 

fifteen  teeth  and  a  diameter  of  five  inches.     This  ratio  gives  about 
480  revolutions  of  the  armature  at  a  car-speed  of  10  miles  an  hour. 
The  aim  of  the  designer  of  Wightman  motor  has  been  to  attain  as 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  MO  TORS.  46 

great  an  eflficiency  as  possible  with  the  wide  variation  of  speed  and 
load  met  with  in  street  railway  practice.  This  has  been  obtained  by 
means  of  large  field  magnets  of  a  great  number  of  turns  of  wire.  In 
fact,  speed  regulation  is  obtained  without  the  use  of  any  external 
resistance  above  three  or  four  miles  an  hour.  On  a  level,  cars 
equipped  with  two  20  h.  p.  Wightman  motors  have  frequently 
attained  a  speed  above  twenty-five  miles  an  hour. 

Mr.  Wightman's  experience  has  lead  him  to  the  belief  that  there 
is  no  economy  in  operating  motors  of  small  capacity.  Many  roads 
are  operated  in  such  a  way  that  cars  are  barely  maintained  on  sched- 
ule time  by  dangerous  and  reckless  running  on  down  grades.  A 
little  calculation  will  show  that  by  the  expenditure  of  a  little  more 
power  grades  may  be  climbed  rapidly,  and  as  a  result,  much  more 
service  can  be  gotten  from  a  given  expenditure  in  wages  for  conduc- 
tors and  motor  men  and  interest  on  plant ;  and  the  cost  of  the  extra 
coal  will  be  comparatively  insignificant.  It  is  much  safer  to  climb 
grades  rapidly  rather  than  to  descend  them  at  a  high  rate  of  speed, 
not  to  mention  the  greater  satisfaction  of  patrons.  When  climbing 
a  grade  a  stoppage  of  power  and  application  of  brakes  will  bring  a 
car  to  a  standstill  within  surprisingly  short  distance.  Since  the  wear 
and  tear  of  ample-sized  motors  is  obviously  less  than  those  over- 
worked, all  considerations  of  economy  and  safety  would  therefore 
point  to  the  use  of  the  former. 

While  in  the  Wightman  motor  electrical  perfection  has  not  been 
sought  for  at  the  expense  of  simplicity  and  durability,  a  very  high 
efficiency  is  obtained.  The  armature  resistance  of  the  20  h.  p.  motor 
is  .75  ohms,  and  that  of  the  main  field  coils  .15  ohms,  with  a  load  of 
40  amperes,  or  over  26  electrical  horse-power  ;  this  would  give  a  loss 
of  potential  in  the  motor  of  36  volts,  or  an  electrical  efficiency  of  92.8. 
Even  with  this  excessive  load  the  commercial  efficiency  has  been 
found  to  be  as  high  as  87  per  cent.  The  large  field,  referred  to 
above,  makes  possible  a  high  efficiency  at  low  speed  and  light  loads. 
These  qualities  are  synonymous  with  powerful  torque  or  startling 
force.  A  loaded  car  equipped  with  Wightman  motors  requires  not 
more  than  from  1 5  to  20  amperes  to  start  on  a  level. 


46 


ELECTRIC  RA/LWA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


Not  the  least  interesting  improvement  in  car  equipment  is  the  new 
controlling  device  employed  by  the  Wightman  Co.,  shown  in  perspec- 
tive in  Fig.  41.  Here,  again,  simplicity  and  durability  have  been  the 
aim  of  the  designer.  Corresponding  points  in  each  controller  are 
connected  at  each  end  of  the  car,  and  all  mechanical  contrivances 
beneath  the  car,  such  as  reversing  switches,  rheostat  cables,  are  done 
away  with.  There  are  five  speed  contacts  on  each  side  of  the  middle 
stop.  A  movement  of  the  controller  handle  to  the  left  causes  the 
car  to  go  forward,  while  an  opposite  movement  reverses  the  direction 
of  motion.  The  gradation  of  resistance  on  the  reversing  side  of  the 
controller  is  such  that  the  car  can  be  brought  either  slowly  or  sud- 
denly to  a  standstill  without  the  use  of  brakes  or  undue  strain  on  the 


Figure  42. 


motors.  The  control  is  as  absolute  and  flexible  as  in  the  case  of  a 
steam  locomotive,  yet  very  much  more  convenient  in  operation.  The 
top  of  the  controller  is  provided  with  notches  in  which  a  catch  on  the 
operating  handle  engages.  This  arrangement  enables  the  motor- 
man  to  confine  his  attention  to  the  track  ahead,  and  yet  be  aware  of 
the  position  of  the  controlling  lever. 

Another  valuable  feature  of  the  controller  is  the  device  for  extin- 
guishing the  arc  formed  on  breaking  contact.  This  consists  of  a 
small  magnet  let  in  from  the  back  of  the  slate  base  and  the  poles  of 
which  come  directly  opposite  the  spaces  between  the  contacts ;  the 
well-known  action  of  the  magnet  serves  to  blow  out  the  arc  and  thus 


ELECTRIC  RAJLIVAY  MOTORS. 


47 


preserves  the  contacts.  The  latter  in  addition  are  all  arranged  to  be 
readily  removable  for  renewal,  in  case  of  necessity,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose all  connections  are  in  sight  and  can  be  gotten  at  merely  by 
removing  the  cover. 

The  Thomson-Houston  Single-Reduction  Gear  Railway  Motor.  — 
An  examination  of  Fig.  44  will  show  that  the  motor  is  practically 
iron  clad,  having  two  internal  pole  pieces  of  ample  spread,  carrying 


Figure  43. 

two  field  spools  which  practically  surround  the  armature  core,  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  well-known  arc  dynamo,  designed  by  Prof. 
Thomson.  The  magnetic  circuit  is  completed  on  the  front  end  of 
the  motor  by  the  nose-plate,  and  on  the  back  end  of  the  frame,  on 
which  are  cast  the  iron  boxes  and  arms  which  serve  as  a  support  for 
the  armature  shaft  bearings. 

The  armature  is  of  the  Gramme-ring  type,  which  possesses  many 
points  of  advantage  over  the  drum  type  of  armature.  Any  coil  on 
the  ring  armature  can  be  easily  rewound  without  disturbing  its  fel- 


48  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

lows,  while  with  the  drum  the  winding  must  be  removed  down  to  the 
injured  coil  and  rewound  new  from  that  point.  It  is  true  that 
removable  coils  have  been  used  on  drum  armatures,  but  not  success- 
fully, for  it  has  been  found  after  extensive  and  most  thorough  trials 
that  while  these  coils  are  removable,  they  are  practically  not  replace- 
able and  therefore,  that  there  is  no  particular  advantage  in  their  use. 

On  the  new-type  motor  the  brushes  are  placed  in  a  horizontal  fixed 
position  exactly  opposite  each  other  and  are  easy  of  access  for 
adjustment  or  examination.  There  is  no  sparking  under  any  of  the 
conditions  of  operating.  A  glance  at  the  cuts  will  show  that  the 
field  spopls  are  protected  at  the  front  and  back  as  well  as  on  the  top 
and  bottom  by  the  fields  and  frame,  and  consequently  injury  is 
almost  out  of  the  question,  yet  as  an  additional  safeguard  to  these 
and  the  armature  and  commutator,  a  sheet  iron  pan  is  employed 
which  closes  in  entirely  the  bottom  and  Sides  of  the  motor  and  ex- 
tends above  the  centre  of  the  armature  shaft.  Its  method  of 
attachment  is  such  that  it  can  readily  be  removed,  permitting  easy 
access  to  the  various  parts  of  the  motor,  for  necessary  repairs  and 
adjustment. 

The  pan,  or  case,  as  it  may  be  called,  can  be  extended  as  high  as 
practice  may  prove  to  be  desirable,  and  forms  a  most  effective  means 
of  fully  protecting  the  apparatus  from  snow,  dirt  and  water.  The 
desirability  of  such  a  device  will  be  readily  appreciated  by  those  who 
have  had  coils  burned  out  during  the  recent  heavy  snow  and  rain 
storms.     The  mechanical  details  are  as  follows  : 

The  spur  pinion  on  the  armature  shaft  is  of  steel  4j^  inch  face 
and  has  fourteen  teeth,  number  3  pitch.  The  split  gear  on  the  car 
axle  is  of  cast-iron  with  the  same  face  and  has  sixty-seven  teeth  of 
the  same  pitch. 

The  speed  of  the  armature  shaft,  relative  to  that  of  the  car  axle 
is,  therefore,  nearly  4.8  to  i.  The  motor  is  designed  to  clear  the 
top  of  the  rails  four  inches,  when  mounted  on  30-inch  wheels.  The 
speed  of  the  armature  when  the  car  is  running  at  ten  miles-  an  hour, 
will  be  538  revolutions  per  minute,  or  the  speed  of  the  armature  is 
53.8  turns  per  minute  per  car  mile  per  hour. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS. 


49 


50  ELECTRIC    RAILWAY   ENGINEERING. 

The  gears  are  entirely  inclosed  in  a  dust  and  oil-tight  case,  which 
is  provided  with  a  hand-hole  closed  by  a  spring  cover,  permitting 
ready  examination  of  gears  and  introduction  of  gears  and  oil  to  the 
interior  of  the  case.  The  advantage  of  a  single  reduction  motor 
having  its  gears  and  pinions  run  in  oil  and  fully  protected,  over 
double  reduction  motors,  with  two  pairs  of  gears  and  pinions,  unpro- 
tected from  dust  and  dirt,  is  quite  apparent.  In  this  new-type  motor 
the  first  cost  and  subsequent  maintenance  of  the  armature  pinion 
and  intermediate  gear  is  surely  eliminated.  The  single  reduction 
gear  corresponds  to  the  old  intermediate  pinion  and  axle  gear  wheel, 
but  it  has  the  great  advantage  of  being  boxed  and  run  in  oil  so  that 
the  important  item  of  gears  will  be  hereafter  practically  stricken  out 
of  the  repair  bill.  The  cost  of  repairing  armatures  will  be  substan- 
tially reduced  by  the  new  arrangement,  but  to  what  extent  cannot 
yet  be  definitely  stated. 

Aside  from  the  facility  of  removing  and  replacing  the  armature 
and  the  case  with  which  one  of  our  sections  of  a  Gramme-ring  can 
be  removed,  the  slow  speed  will  materially  lessen  the  bursting  of 
binding  wires,  the  displacement  of  coils  and  breaking  of  commutator 
connections,  together  with  other  injuries  occasioned  by  centrifugal 
action.  Considerable  noise  has  also  hitherto  been  occasioned  by  the 
brushes  bearing  on  the  high  speed  commutator.  This  noise,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  gears,  has  been  entirely  eliminated  by  the  new  form  of 
machine,  so  that  the  rolling  of  the  wheels  on  the  rails  is  the  only 
sound  to  be  heard  in  a  car  equipped  with  this  motor,  even  at  its 
highest  speed. 

Another  consideration  of  great  value  is  the  form  of  the  magnetic 
field.  In  previous  Thomson-Houston  types  of  railway  motors  and  in 
the  Edison  and  Westinghouse  motors,  the  magnetic  field  is  short-cir- 
cuited outside  of  the  armature,  more  or  less  by  the  support  necessary 
at  the  nose  plate,  and  some  sacrifice  of  the  strength  of  this  nose-plate 
is  required  in  some  styles  of  eight-wheeled  trucks.  The  effect  of 
this  short  circuiting  on  the  magnetic  field  is  to  weaken  the  power  of 
the  armature.  The  difficulty  is  entirely  avoided  in  the  new  motor 
which  has  substantially  an  iron-clad  magnetic  field. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS. 


51 


The  Tlionison-Honston  W.  P.  Railway  Motor. — *One  of  the  most 
interesting  exhibits  at  the  Pittsburg  Street  Railway  Convention 
was  a  new  slow-speed  railway  motor  of  the  Thomson-Houston  com- 
pany, of  which  the  accompanying  illustrations  give  an  excellent  idea. 
It  has  been  in  process.of  evolution  for  six  months  or  more  and  has 
been  worked  up  under  the  careful  superintendence  of  Mr.  Walter 
Knight.  The  new  machine  embodies  some  decidedly  novel  features 
and  its  excellent  performance  on  the  special  car  equipped  with  it  was 
very  favorably  commented  upon.     It  is  known  to  the  trade  as  the 


Figure  45. 

W.  P.  motor,  which  being  interpreted  means  water-proof,  and  it  well 
deserves  the  name,  because  of  the  particularly  complete  iron-clad 
character  of  the  field  magnets. 

Fig.  45  gives  a  perspective  view  of  the  motor,  and  from  it  the 
arrangement  of  the  iron  is  at  once  obvious.  Singularly  enough,  it  is 
a  two-pole  machine  so  arranged  on  the  theory  that  the  comparatively 
slight  gain  in  weight  efficiency  that  could  be  obtained  with  a  multi- 

•  Electrical  World, 


52 


ELECTRIC   KAJLWAY  ENGINEERING. 


polar  type  is  more  than  offset  by  the  increased  compHcation  of  the 
windings.  The  only  portions  of  the  machine  open  to  the  outside  air 
are  exposed  at  the  two  oval  openings  at  the  ends  of  the  armature 
shaft,  and  even  these  can  be  easily  fitted  with  covers  should  such  a 
course  prove  desirable.  The  whole  magnetic  circuit  is  composed  of 
two  castings  bolted  together  and  free  to  swing  apart  by  a  hinge 
allowing  ready  access  to  the  armature. 

Fig.  46  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  internal  arrangements. 
The  armature  itself  is  very  nearly  twenty  inches  in  diameter,  a  very 
powerful  Pacinotti-ring  nearly  six  inches  on  the  face  and  of  about  the 


•     Figure  46. 

same  depth.  It  is  wound  with  comparatively  coarse  wire  in  sixty- 
four  sections,  with  fourteen  turns  to  the  section.  Each  coil  is 
tightly  placed  in  the  space  between  two  of  the  projecting  teeth,  and 
about  the  interior  space  the  separate  coils  are  closely  packed,  leaving 
only  sufficient  room  for  the  four-armed  driving  spider. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  armature  takes  up  most  of  the  full  height  of 
the  machine,  the  pole  pieces  being  but  trifling  projections  and  the 
requisite  cross-section  of  iron  being  obtained  by  extending  the  poles 
to  form  a  closely  fitting  iron  box  that  appears  in  the  exterior  view. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS.  53 

An  unusual  feature  is  the  use  of  but  a  single  magnetizing  coil  wound 
not  directly  about  the  upper  pole  piece  but  on  the  casing  imme- 
diately surrounding  it.  The  lower  pole  is  but  slightly  raised  and 
both  pole  pieces  are  of  the  greatest  extent  permissible  with  the 
dimensions  of  the  machine.  The  use  of  a  single  magnetizing  coil 
produces  naturally  an  unbalanced  field  and  a  strong  upward  pull  on 
the  armature  tending  to  relieve  the  pressure  on  the  bearings.  The 
iron-clad  form,  however,  tends  to  distribute  the  lines  of  force  so  as  to 
avoid  the  sparking  and  change  of  lead  that  might  otherwise  have  to 
be  feared.  The  single  coil  is  wound  with  quite  coarse  wire  and  its 
position  insures  the  maximum  magnetic  effect  from  the  current. 

The  speed  of  the  new  motor  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  older 
S.  R.  G  form,  and  its  general  working  efficiency  is  somewhat  better, 
owing  not  so  much  to  a  greater  maximum  of  efficiency  as  to  a  better 
working  curve — at  both  heavy  and  light  loads.  The  brush  holders 
are  shown  in  the  cut,  and  the  slots  in  which  they  fit  render  their 
position  evident.  The  brushes  are  of  the  ordinary  carbon  descrip- 
tion and  are  readily  accessible  through  the  opening  at  the  end  of  the 
shaft. 

In  operation  the  W.  P.  motor  has  been  highly  satisfactory.  It 
runs  with  but  trifling  sparking  and  no  heating  to  speak  of,  gives  a 
very  powerful  torque,  and  is  singularly  free  from  liability  to  damage 
of  the  armature,  for  which  its  careful  insulation  and  the  Pacinotti 
form  adopted  are  responsible.  It  is  now  being  regularly  manufac- 
tured at  the  Thomson-Houston  works,  and  it  is  expected  to  take 
with  great  advantage  the  place  in  popular  favor  of  the  S.  R.  G.  motor 
that  has  made  so  good  a  reputation  for  itself  during  the  past  sum- 
mer. It  is  an  interesting  departure,  both  electrically  and  mechani- 
cally, and  aside  from  its  special  features  its  general  qualities  of  iron- 
clad field,  gears  running  in  oil,  and  the  ease  of  access  to  the  working 
parts  will  commend  it  to  the  practical  street  railway  man. 

The  Westing/louse  Four-Pole  Single-Reduction  Street  Railway 
Motor. — A  view  of  the  motor  is  shown  in  Fig.  47,  bringing  out  more 


54 


ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS.  55 

prominently  the  gear  casing.  The  construction  of  the  motor  can  be 
readily  comprehended  by  referring  to  the  view.  Here  are  shown  the 
castings  complete  of  the  motor,  consisting  of  only  three  parts — the 
frame  and  the  two  semi-cylinders,  the  two  latter  being  practically 
one.  The  size  of  the  frame  is  such  that  it  can  be  placed  upon  a 
bogie-truck,  being  equally  well  adapted  for  an  eight-wheel  as  for  a 
four-wheel  car.  The  width  of  the  motor  is  such  that  it  can  be  used 
on  a  3'  6"  guage.  In  the  sides  of  the  two  semi-cylinders  are  seen 
the  holes  where  the  plates  are  secured,  which  serve  as  a  protection 
to  the  sides  of  the  machine. 

If  necessary,  the  machine  can  be  entirely  shut  in.  It  was  formerly 
believed  that  a  motor  could  not  be  thus  enclosed,  since  it  needed 
ventilation  ;  but  experience  with  slow  speed  motors  has  demon- 
strated that  if  a  motor  be  correctly  designed,  electrically  and 
mechanically,  and  properly  constructed  there  is  no  difficulty  whatever 
in  enclosing  it.  At  the  same  time,  if,  in  some  cases,  it  be  deemed 
advisable  to  allow  a  small  opening  for  ventilation,  the  plates  can  be 
constructed  accordingly. 

This  method  of  enclosing  the  motor  is  exceedingly  convenient  in 
snow  and  rain  storms,  and  especially  where  the  cars  pass  over 
trestles  which  expose  the  motor.  Heretofore,  considerable  trouble 
has  been  experienced  from  water  dripping  on  the  motor  through  the 
car  floor.  In  this  motor,  as  is  obvious,  such  troubles  are  eliminated. 
Again,  the  objections  to  the  motor  being  exposed  to  water,  dirt  and 
dust  can  be  appreciated  when  it  is  remembered  that  a  large  number 
of  engineers  favor  some  method  of  mounting  the  motors  on  the  car 
floor.  The  above  objections  are  overcome  by  making  the  motor 
iron-clad.  By  again  referring  to  the  view,  there  will  be  seen  the  four 
internal  poles  ;  hence,  it  is  called  a  four-pole  motor.  Some  of  the 
advantages  of  a  four-pole  motor  over  a  two-pole  machine,  are:  slower 
speed  ;  greater  simplicity  ;  more  symmetrical ;  and  a  greater  radiat- 
ing surface  for  the  field  coils.  In  case  a  two-pole  motor  is  used,  and 
the  same  amount  of  wire  is  wound  about  these  two  poles,  the  radiat- 
ing surface  is  far  less  than  where  there  are  four  poles. 


56 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY    ENGLNEERLNG. 


Another  important  feature  to  be  noticed  is  the  form  of  the  motor 
proper ;  namely,  circular.  It  is  a  well-known  law  in  mechanics  that 
the  strongest  form  is  the  arch;  consequently,  by  this  cylindrical 
form,  we  obtain  the  maximum  strength  with  the  minimum  amount  of 


Fi<;uRE  49. 

material.  All  corners  and  sharp  edges  which  mean  unnecessary 
weight,  and  at  the  same  time  having  a  tendency  to  reduce  the 
efficiency,  are  eliminated  from  this  machine.  The  fields  are  enclosed 
and  protected,  not   merely  externally  by  the  surrounding  cylindrical 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  V  MO  TORS.  57 

shell,  but  also  internally  by  a  heavy  brass  cap.  There  is  no  liability 
to  accident  in  case  they  strike  any  obstruction  in  the  road,  neither 
can  they  be  injured  by  gross  carelessness  in  handling. 

The  cast-iron  frame,  on  which  the  motor  is  mounted,  forms  a  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  VVestinghouse  machine.  This  frame  is 
rectangular,  in  one  casting,  and  made  strong  at  points  subjected  to 
the  greatest  strains.  Special  machinery  has  been  devised  for  boring 
out  the  holes  for  the  bushings,  so  that  the  frame,  and,  in  fact,  all 
parts  of  the  motor,  are  interchangeable.  By  means  of  this  frame 
the  armature  shaft  and  car  axle  are  maintained  in  alignment,  and 
consequently  perfect  meshing  of  the  gears  is  obtained,  which  experi- 
ence has  proved  to  be  of  importance.  The  gearing  is  mounted 
closely  to  the  frame,  so  as  to  avoid  the  objectionable  buckling  and 
tendency  to  loosen  the  moving  parts.     This  method  gives  a  strong 


Figure  50. 

mounting  and  perfect  rigidity  between  the  parts  of  the  motor. 
Moreover,  by  extending  this  frame  around  the  motor  and  suspending 
it  at  both  corners,  we  distribute  the  strains  and  prevent  the  abnormal 
wearing  of  the  bearings,  so  characteristic  of  centre  suspension. 

The  illustration  (see  Fig.  49),  shows  the  method  of  hinging  the  field 
castings.  These,  as  will  be  noticed,  can  be  swung  back,  giving  easy 
access  to  the  fields  and  armature.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  poles 
protrude  radially  from  the  interior  of  the  cylindrical  shell.  The 
field  coils,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  50,  are  slipped  over  these 
poles,  held  in  position  and  at  the  same  time  protected  from  the  in- 
terior by  a  brass  cap.  The  ease  with  which  the  fields  can  be 
removed  or  replaced  needs  but  a  glance  to  be  understood.  Any 
field  can  be  removed  without  disturbing  any  other  part  of  the  motor, 


58 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


and  this  can  be  accomplished  in  little  time.  The  lower  fields  can  be 
similarly  changed  by  swinging  back  the  lower  semi-cylinder.  The  ar- 
mature is  then  ready  to  be  taken  out,  and  by  taking  off  the  brushing 
cap  and  placing  a  sling  about  the  armature,  it  can  be  lowered  into 
the  pit  without  obstruction  or  danger  of  injuring  the  same. 

The  armature  is  what  is  known  as  the  drum  type,  which  experience 
has  demonstrated  to  be  superior  to  other  types  for  street  railway 
work.  The  armature  core  is  built  up  of  laminated  grooved  iron 
plates,  so  that  the  completed  core  has  slots  to  receive  the  wires.  In 
the  armature  the  wires  are  imbedded  in  iron,  hence  they  cannot  be 
injured  from  ordinary  external  causes.  Since  the  surface  of  the 
armature  is  iron,  the  air  space,  that  is,  the  distance  between  the  iron 


Figure  51. 

of  the  armature  and  pole-pieces,  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  increasing 
the  efficiency  of  the  motor. 

The  armature  shaft  is  manufactured  from  the  best  grade  of  forged 
steel,  especially  prepared  for  this  purpose.  The  construction  of  the 
shaft  and  armature  make  it  exceedingly  strong,  and  capable  of  withr 
standing  the  severe  strains  sometimes  brought  upon  it.  In  looking 
at  the  frame,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  oil  receptacles  are  sunk  into 
the  same.  These  oil  receptacles  are  so  placed  that  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  injuring  them.  It  is  worthy  of  attention  that  these  facilities 
for  oiling  are  excellent.  The  oil  boxes  are  large,  and  the  method  of 
oiling  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  high  speed  motor,  with  which  they 


ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  MOTORS^ 


59 


60 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


have  never  had  a  hot  box,  so  that  it  can  be  said  with  confidence  no 
trouble  will  be  experienced  from  this  source  with  their  slow  speed 
motor. 

The  field  coils  are  wound  with  wire  having  exceedingly  large 
carrying  capacity.  The  arrangement  adopted  for  the  brush-holder — 
see  Fig.  51 — has  also  been  carefully  worked  out.     It  consists  of  a 


Figure  53. 

square  oak  holder  attached  to  the  side  of  the  frame,  and  carrying  the 
brush-holders  proper,  which  are  clamped  so  that  they  can  readily 
be  adjusted.  The  carbon  brushes  are  placed  in  a  sliding  frame,  and 
pressed  against  the  commutator  by  a  pair  of  springs,  which  can  be 
released  by  a  pressure  of  the  finger,  and  the  carbon  slipped  out  for 
replacement  when  worn.  The  casting  supporting  the  brush-holder 
is  fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  motor  frame,  so  that  the  brushes 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS. 


61 


rest  on  the  upper  part  of  the  commutator,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  exposed  above,  so  that  the  commutator  can  be  cleaned  from  the 
inside  as  well  as  from  the  outside  of  the  car.  Fig.  52  shows  plan  of 
motor  upon  truck. 

The  Edison  Slow- Speed  Single-Reduction  Motors  are  shown  in 
Figs.  53  and  54.  The  Edison  General  Electric  Cbmpany  now  build 
these  motors  in  the  following  sizes :  15,  20,  25  and  30  h.  p. 

Only  two  of  the  four  poles,  namely,  those  in  the  horizontal  plane, 
are  wound  with  coils,  the  two  in  the  verticle  plane  being  magnetized 
by  induction  from  the  same  spools,  and  forming,  as  it  were,  conse- 


FlGURE    54. 

quent  poles  of  opposite  polarity.  The  entire  field  is  of  special  soft- 
cast  steel,  with  the  pole  pieces  attached  by  screw  bolts  after  the 
coils,  wounds  on  vulcabeston  spools,  have  been  slipped  on  over 
the  straight  cores.  As  a  result  of  this  construction  and  the  em- 
ployment of  cast-steel,  the  magnetizing  force  required  is  small. 

In  the  construction  of  the  machine  the  armature  bearing  and  the 
cylindrical  armature  space  are  bored  out  at  one  operation,  making 
the  armature  run  perfectly  true. 


62  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

The  armature  is  a  Gramme  ring  with  "Paccinotti"  teeth.  The 
core  is  built  up  of  soft  punched  iron  rings,  with  the  end  plates  of 
wrought  iron,  and  bevelled.  On  the  interior  diameter  of  the  hollow 
cylinder  built  up  in  this  manner,  there  are  four  grooves  placed  90 
degrees  from  each  other,  and  into  these  grooves  the  aluminum 
bronze  spiders  are  pressed  by  hydraulic  pressure,  two  spiders  being 
employed  and  bolted  together.  In  this  way  there  is  a  firm  mechani- 
cal connection  between  the  armature  shaft  and  the  ring,  making  an 
armature  of  extraordinary  strength  and  durability. 

The  winding,  in  140  sections,  is  put  on  in  one  continuous  length 
of  wire,  and  at  each  section,  a  tap-wire  of  German  silver  is  taken  to 
the  commutator,  the  coils  being  substantially  insulated  with  mica. 

The  entire  machine  is  encased  in  an  iron  cover,  and  the  total 
weight  of  the  25  h.  p.  with  gears  is  about  2,200  pounds.  It  is  in- 
tended to  apply  two  of  these  motors  to  each  car  of  the  double  truck 
type,  while  one  machine  alone  will  be  able  to  drive  the  smaller  cars. 
The  motor  is  of  the  series  type,  and  the  regulation  is  effected  by 
varying  the  combination  of  the  field  section. 

Carbon  brushes  are  employed,  and  the  brush  holders  being  rigidly 
fastened  to  the  frame,  require  no  shifting  throughout  the  range  of 
load  to  which  the  motor  is  subjected. 

These  motors  are  now  fitted  with  iron  and  copper  gear  covers. 
(See  Fig.  54.)  These  covers  completely  enclose  the  pinion  and 
gear  wheel  so  that  they  may  be  protected  when  running,  from  stones 
and  other  pieces  of  material  getting  into  them. 

The  copper  covers  are  considerably  lighter  than  the  iron  ones. 
The  weight  of  the  copper  cover  complete  is  44  pounds  and  the  iron 
cover  weighs  130  pounds.  The  cover  is  made  in  two  halves,  each 
half  being  provided  with  a  flanged  edge  so  that  the  halves  can  be 
bolted  together  very  securely.  The  cover  is  held  in  position  on  the 
motor  at  three  points,  by  means  of  two  angle  pieces  which  are 
fastened  on  the  cover  and  bolted  to  the  motor  frame  upon  the  axle 
bracket,  and  a  lug  piece  on  the  top  half  of  the  cover  through  which 
a  bolt  can  be  passed  into  a  boss  on  the  armature  bearing.     The  angle 


^'i\n"^'ri 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY   MOTORS.  63, 

pieces  which  are  attached  to  the  axle  bracket,  also  act  as  locking  nuts 
for  the  bolts  that  fasten  the  axle  bracket  to  the  motor  frame.  To 
put  on  a  gear  cover,  take  the  bottom  half  and  fasten  it  up  under  the 
gears  by  the  bolt  through  the  lug  piece,  see  that  it  is  clear  of  the 
gears  everywhere  and  fasten  the  bottom  angle  piece  on  to  the  axle 
bracket,  then  bolt  this  angle  piece  to  the  cover.  Having  the  bottom 
half  in  position,  place  the  top  half  on  it  and  bolt  the  two  together  by 
means  of  the  bolts  around  the  flanges,  then  put  the  remaining  angle 
piece  on  the  axle  bracket,  and  bolt  it  to  the  top  half  of  the  cover. 
In  some  motors  the  lug  piece  is  on  the  top  of  the  gear  cover,  in 
which  case  the  top  half  is  put  on  first.  The  covers  are  fitted  with  a 
babbitted  bearing  for  the  axle  shaft  and  provided  with  an  oil  cup. 

The  Short  Gearless  Motor. — The  gearless  motor  (designed  by  the 
Short  Company)  is  shown  in  Fig.  55.  Referring  to  the  machine  in  a 
general  way,  it  is  seen  that  all  gearing  is  absolutely  eliminated,  the 
number  of  bearings  is  reduced  to  two  on  each  motor,  and  four  in  the 
equipment.  The  armature  speed  comes  down  to  the  minimum, 
namely,  that  of  the  car  axles  in  practical  operation.  The  noise  of 
gearing  and  the  brushes  is  entirely  obviated,  and  there  are  but  three 
wearing  parts  on  each  motor.  The  intensity  of  the  magnetic  field  is 
now  at  its  maximum  ;  this  effect  being  due,  not  to  a  material  increase 
in  the  weight  of  armature  and  pole  pieces,  but  to  the  wholly  different 
method  of  construction.  Instead  of  two  magnets,  we  find  eight; 
instead  of  a  wide  magnetic  gap,  we  find  one  extremely  narrow,  with 
consequent  great  intensity  of  the  "  field  of  force."  Instead  of  a  drum 
armature  of  small  diameter,  we  find  a  ring  armature  of  comparatively 
large  diameter,  and  increased  "leverage;"  the  sum  total  being  that 
we  have  here  in  full  measure  a  motor  of  the  second  type,  namely,  one 
with  an  armature  revolving  at  low  speed  in  an  intense  "magnetic 
field,"  exerting  a  power  fully  equal  to  the  motor  with  gearing,  and  at 
a  considerable  less  expenditure  of  current,  since  all  friction  of  gear- 
ing is  eliminated. 

The  motor  is  complete  in  itself.     It  is  not  keyed  to  the  car  axle, 


\) 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


64 

nor  does  it  touch  it  at  any  point.  The  motor  as  a  whole  can  be  taken 
off  the  car  axle  after  removing  a  wheel,  but  in  practice  it  will  rarely 
or  never  be  found  necessary  to  do  this.  A  plan  of  the  15  horse- 
power gearless  motor  is  shown  in  Fig.  56.  A  sectional  view  is 
shown  in  F"ig.  57. 

The  field  magnets  are  eight  in  number,  four  on  each  side  of  the 
armature.  They  face  each  other  at  a  distance  of  only  ten  inches 
and  thus  form  a  most  intense  magnetic  field.  The  magnets  are 
bolted  to  the  framework  of  the  motor,  in  the  center  of  which  are  the 


Figure  55. 

bearings  which  carry  the  hollow  armature  shaft,  (See  Fig.  58.)  The 
double  arms  running  out  from  the  framework  to  the  cross  girders  on 
the  truck  makp  provision  for  the  support  of  the  entire  motor.  The 
insulation  between  these  brackets  and  the  girders  is  provided  by 
means  of  heavy  rubber  bushings  through  which  pass  the  bolts.  By 
removing  the  bolts  attaching  the  fields  to  the  supporting  framework, 
the  coils  may  be  quickly  taken  out,  either  for  repair  or  to  more  easily 
get  at  the  armature. 

The  armature  is  keyed  to  a  hollow  steel  shaft,  which  is  concentric 


^'I>lil,"'l/.l 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS. 


65 


with  the  axle  of  the  truck,  an  inside  clearance  of  one  inch  all  around 
being  provided  for.  The  armature  proper  consists  of  a  laminated 
iron  core  upon  which  are  mounted  separate  and  entirely  independent 
coils,  following  the  well-known  methods  of  the  Short  double  reduc- 
tion type  of  motor.  These  coils  are  perfectly  ventilated,  and  in  past 
practice  almost  no  trouble  has  been  experienced  from  burnouts.     It 


FlGURK   56. 

is  the  one  street  car  armature  at  present  constructed  of  which  it  can 
be  truly  said  that  the  coils  are  absolutely  independent,  and  can  be 
separately  rewound  in  case  of  accident,  at  almost  nominal  expense. 
Mounted  upon  the  hollow  shaft,  close  to  the  armature,  is  the  com- 
mutator, which  is  protected  from  injury  by  the  surrounding  pole 
pieces.     The  commutator   is  massive  in  construction  and  of  large 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


diameter,  the  idea  being  that,  because  of  its  massiveness  and  slow 
speed,  the  wear  will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  the  replacing  of 
the  commutator  will  occur  only  at  long  intervals.  On  the  ends  of 
the  hollow  shaft  are  mounted  two  discs  fastened  thereto,  the  periph- 
eries of  which  are  insulated  from  the  hubs  by  the  special  wooden  web 
construction.  Between  the  commutator  and  the  disc  on  the  one 
side  and  the  armature  and  the  second  disc  on  the  other,  are  the  bear- 
ings, which  are  carried  by  the  motor  frame. 


THE.  GEARLESS  MOTOR— 1 5   H    P.  — Section. 


Figure  57. 


It  has  been  before  said  that  the  motor  has  no  connection  whatever 
with  the  car  axles ;  it  follows,  therefore,  that  it  is  necessary  to  pro- 
vide means  of  propelling  the  car  by  making  some  attachment  between 
the  hollow  armature  shaft  and  the  wheels.  This  is  done  very  simply 
by  means  of  heavy  coiled  springs,  which  extend  from  the  peripheries 
of  the  armature  shaft  discs  to  bosses  on  the  wheels.  Position  and 
attachment  of  these  springs  are  shown  in  Fig.    59.     They  are   of 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTORS. 


til,. 


great  strength,  and  can  pull  a  very  heavy  weight  with  but  slight 
extension  or  compression.  As  they  are  attached  to  both  disc  and 
wheel  upon  circles  of  the  same  radius,  their  effort  is  a  nearly  direct 
circumferential  pull. 

From  the  description  above,  it  is  at  once  apparent  that  the  entire 
motor  is  absolutely  insulated  from  the  truck  at  every  point.  This  is 
a  feature  which  we  believe  to  be  of  great  importance.  By  this  means 
leakage  or  accidental  connection  between  field  or  armature  circuits 
and  the  iron  frame  work  (which  may  be  caused  by  moisture,  dust, 


Figure  58. 

dirt,  etc.),  does  not  produce  a  "ground  circuit,"  and  consequent 
burn-out  of  field  or  armature  coil,  as  is  the  case  with  other  types  of 
machines. 

To  protect  the  motor  from  dust,  moisture,  etc.,  which  have  been  a 
potent  source  of  trouble  in  other  forms  of  equipment,  an  iron  case 
completely  incloses  the  motor,  except  at  the  top,  where  necessary 
ventilation  is  provided,  and  is  water-tight  up  to  the  axles.  To  get  at 
the  motor,  it  is  only  necessary  to  unlatch  one  end  of  the  casing  and 
swing  it  down  and  out  away  from  the  mechanism. 


sO^^^i.A-.^^^^^ 


68 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


The  dimensions  of  the  motor  are  as  follows  :  From  the  centre  of 
the  axle  to  the  bottom  of  the  casing  is  12^  inches.  On  a  36-inch 
wheel,  which  we  strongly  advise,  not  only  in  the  gearless,  but  in 
other  types  of  motor,  there  is  thus  a  clearance  of  5J^  inches,  which 
is  ample  for  all  purposes.  At  a  speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  the 
armature  revolves  at  94  revolutions  per  minute,  with  a  36-inch  wheel. 
The  equivalent  speed  of  the  single  reduction  motor  would  be  at  least 
400,  and  of  a  double  reduction  motor  about  1,200.  One  of  the  most 
valuable  features  of  the  machine  is  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be 


Figure  59. 

repaired  in  case  of  necessity.  By  loosening  four  bolts  in  the  motor 
frame-work,  and  by  taking  off  the  iron  strips  below  the  wheel-boxes, 
one  end  of  the  car  may  be  jacked  up,  and  the  axle-wheels  and  arma- 
ture complete  run  out  from  under,  into  the  light  of  day.  The  arma- 
ture coils  may  be  rewound  without  removing  the  armature  from  the 
car  axle.  Field  coils  can  be  repaired  as  easily.  The  commutator 
may  be  reached  and  dressed  while  the  machine  is  running.  If  steel 
tired  wheels  are  used,  by  a  special  arrangement  the  motor  may  be 
jacked  up,  raising  the  wheels  from  the  ground,  current  brought  to  the 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  MO  TORS.  69 

motor,  and  the  wheels  turned  just  as  would  be  the  case  on  the  truck, 
so  that  by  a  special  "tool-jig"  the  wheels  may  be  turned  down  as 
required,  thus  removing  any  flat  spots  or  other  imperfections.  Or 
the  wheels  and  axles  may  be  turned  from  outside  through  the  hollow 
shaft  of  armature,  without  the  least  effect  on  motor,  it  being,  of 
course,  necessary,  however,  to  remove  the  spring  attachment  between 
the  hollow  shaft  discs  and  the  wheels.  In  case  it  is  found  necessary 
to  replace  a  commutator,  a  wheel  must  be  pressed  off,  and  the  com- 
mutator removed  bodily.  This  could  be  done  only  with  great  diffi- 
culty if  the  armature  were  keyed  direct  to  the  axle  instead  of  being 
on  the  hollow  shaft.  The  commutator  will  have  a  life  three  or  four 
times  that  of  the  wheels  in  common  use  on  electric  railways,  and  it 
will  not  usually  be  necessary  to  press  off  a  wheel  for  the  express 
purpose  of  replacing  a  commutator. 


70  ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER    V. 


RHEOSTATS. 


A  RHEOSTAT  is  an  apparatus  for  throwing  a  variable  resistance 
into  a  circuit ;  thus  regulating  the  amount  of  current  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  each  case. 

Hence,  to  regulate  the  field  magnetism  of  shunt  and  compound 
dynamos,  a  rheostat  consisting  of  long  coils  of  comparatively  fine 
wire  is  connected  in  the  shunt  circuit.  The  current  in  such  cases  is 
only  from  i  to  3  amperes.  When  a  shunt,  or  a  series  motor  on  a 
constant  potential  circuit,  like  a  railroad  motor,  is  started,  a  rheostat 
of  shorter  coils  of  comparatively  large  wire  must  be  put  in  the  arma- 
ture or  main  circuit.  The  reason  is  that  the  armature  resistance 
must  be  low  in  order  that  the  motor  be  efficient.  With  the  motor  at 
rest,  if  the  only  resistance  to  the  flow  of  the  current  were  that  of  the 
wire  on  the  motor,  too  easy  a  path  for  the  current  would  be  open. 
The  motor  would  start  with  a  tremendous  jump  that  would  throw  off 
belts,  strip  the  teeth  from  gears,  besides  endangering  the  wire  to 
melting.  A  rheostat  should  offer  sufficient  resistance  so  that  the 
current  flowing  will  at  no  time  be  beyond  the  safe  carrying  capacity 
(in  amperes)  of  the  motor  armature  wire.  As  the  motor  turns,  it 
generates  a  counter  electro-motive  force  which  pushes  back  on  the 
primary  electro-motive  force  with  which  the  motor  is  supplied.  This 
counter  electro-motive  force  cuts  down  the  current  similar  to  the 
action  of  a  rheostat.  As  the  speed  of  the  motor  increases,  the 
rheostat  resistance  can  be  gradually  withdrawn.  It  will  be  easily 
seen  that  a  rheostat  should  not  be  kept  in  a  main  circuit  for  any 
length  of  time,  as  by  so  doing  the  motor  will  receive  a  less 
potential  than  necessary,  and  would  work  at  a  reduced  efficiency. 


RHEOSTA  TS.  7f 

Rheostats  get  heated  from  the  flow  of  the  current,  showing  that  use- 
less energy  is  being  consumed. 

They  are  a  necessary  part  of  the  equipment  of  a  power  switch- 
board. In  such  cases  the  main  current  from  the  dynamos  does  not 
go  through  the  coils  of  the  rheostats,  but  only  that  portion  flowing 
through  the  shunt  field  winding.  It  is  impossible  to  make  two 
dynamos  so  exactly  alike,  that  without  any  regulating  devices,  they 
will  both  generate  at  the  same  potential.  The  varying  magnetic 
qualities  of  iron,  and  the  different  resistances  of  the  wire  when  cold 
and  heated  alone  make  considerable  differences.  Pulleys  are  not 
turned  to  exact  diameters,  and  all  belts  do  not  have  the  same  adhe- 
sion, so  a  variation  in  the  speed  of  the  dynamos  must  be  allowed  for. 
A  rheostat  in  each  field  circuit  is  an  easy  and  effectual  device  to 
accomplish  a  variation  of  20  per  cent,  the  total  electro-motive  force  of 
the  dynamos,  without  interfering  essentially  with  the  working  effi- 
ciency. As  the  current  is  small,  the  coils  of  the  rheostat  can  be  made 
of  small  wire,  usually  German  silver,  about  iV'  diameter.  To  secure 
close  regulation,  the  switch  to  which  the  resistances  are  connected  is 
divided  into  a  large  number  of  points :  forty,  or  even  eighty  different 
segments  are  arranged  in  a  circle,  and  a  shoe  is  arranged  to  slide  over 
these  when  a  hand-wheel  is  turned.  More  or  less  resistance  can  be 
thus  put  in  the  circuit  and  the  magnetization  of  the  fields  increased 
or  decreased. 

Rheostats  are  usually  included  in  an  electric  car  equipment.  The 
only  other  method  of  controlling  railroad  motors  is  to  use  different 
combinations  of  connections  of  the  field  magnet  coils  to  secure  a 
variable  resistance ;  however  in  this  case,  some  of  the  coils  need  to 
be  of  German  silver  to  offer  sufficient  resistance,  and  their  use  is 
attended  with  heating,  dangerous  to  the  motors.  With  a  rheostat, 
nearly  all  disorders  of  the  equipment  will  show  themselves  clearly 
in  that  one  place,  and  repairs  can  be  easily  and  cheaply  made. 
With  the  other,  known  as  the  "controller"  system,  the  motors  them- 
selves have  to  suffer,  and  repairs  are  inconvenient  and  more  expen- 
sive. It  is  a  strong  point,  however,  with  such  a  system  is  that  the 
current  is  more  economically  used  in  starting  the  motors. 


72 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


The  Thomson-Houston  Rheostat  (see  Fig.  60)  has  the  resistance 
laid  closely  in  a  semi-circular  iron  trough.  This  trough  is  connected 
by  radial  spokes  with  a  center  or  hub  that  supports  a  vertical  insu- 
lated steel  spindle.  On  this  spindle  turns  a  wheel  or  drum,  actuated 
by  the  driver  through  means  of  a  sprocket  chain  and  steel  cable. 
The  drum  moves  a  brass  arm,  on  the  outer  end  of  which  is  a  shoe 
that  rubs  on  top  the  resistances  in  the  trough. 

The  resistances  are  made  in  the  form  of  thin  iron  punchings,  of  a 


" "«* »y». M 

Figure  60. 

shape  shown  in  Fig.  61.  Although  the  piece  is  only  about  25^"X4" 
the  path  through  it  for  the  current  is  long.  The  current  enters  one 
end,  at  "A,"  and  is  obliged  to  travel  a  crooked  path  to  arrive  at  "E." 
Another  punching  exactly  the  same  touches  the  parts  "  E,"  of  each, 
together,  being  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  surface  by  a  thin  sheet 
of  mica.  In  this  second  punching  the  current  travels  from  "E"  to 
"A"  ;  thence  it  passes  by  contact  into  the  part  like  "A"  of  the  third 
punching.     A    sheet    of  mica  keeps  the  punchings  from  touching 


RHEOSTA  TS. 


73 


except  at  the  extreme  ends.  So  on,  in  the  series,  the  current  goes  up 
and  down,  back  and  forth  through  the  sheet  iron  until  the  requisite 
amount  of  resistance  has  been  reached.  At  regular  intervals,  thin 
cast-iron  plates,  with  thickened  upper  edges,  are  inserted.  These 
stand  about  half  an  inch  above  the  punch ings,  and  are  the  parts  that 
receive  the  contact  with  the  shoe  on  the  movable  arm.  These  con- 
tact plates  are  thicker  at  the  outside  edge  than  at  the  inside,  and 
thus  compensate  for  the  difference  in  length  of  the  inner  and  outer 
semi-circumference  of  the  trough. 

The  bottom  and  sides  of  the  trough  are  lined  with  mica  and  slate ; 


Figure  6i. 


the  plates  are  held  down  in  place  by  two  semi-circular  iron  bands  press- 
ing (with  mica  insulation)  on  the  shoulders  at  "A"  and  "E."  So  it 
is  seen  that  the  entire  construction  is  iron,  mica  and  slate — articles 
either  cheap  or  incombustible.  These  rheostats  can  be  kept  heated 
red  hot  for  hours  without  appreciable  damage.  The  resistance  is 
about  20  ohms  and  the  capacity  60  amperes. 

Stops  for  limiting  the  extent  to  which  the  arm  can  be  moved  are 


74 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


provided,  and  at  the  place  where  the  contact  is  made  and  broken  a 
magnetic  "blow-out"  is  located,  which  quickly  extinguishes  the  arc 
that  follows  the  breaking  of  the  circuit. 

The  Short  Electric  Company's  Rheostat  (see  Fig.  62)  is,  in  some  re- 
spects like  the  Thomson-Houston.  Sheet-iron  plates,  slotted  to  pro- 
duce a  similarly  long  path  for  the  current,  are  used  to  give  the  requi- 
site resistance.  Thin  sheets  of  asbestos  separate  the  plates,  except  at 
the  ends,  where  one  touches  its  neighbor  to  keep  the  circuit  complete. 
Instead  of  being  contained  in  a  trough,  these  laminations  of  iron  and 


Figure  62. 

asbestos  are  strung  on  iron  bolts  ;  a  bushing  of  lava,  however,  keeps  the 
plates  from  actual  contact  with  the  bolts.  This  construction  admits 
of  air  spaces  being  left  around  the  different  groups  or  sections  of 
which  the  entire  rheostat  is  built.  The  whole  piece  of  apparatus 
is  suspended  from  a  wooden  frame  under  the  car  body.  "Leads" 
of  copper  wire  are  taken  out  from  the  plates  at  regular  intervals,  and 
are  carried  to  corresponding  points  of  a  swi,tch.  This  switch  is 
attached  directly  under  one  of  the  platforms  of  the  car  and  the  arm 
that  makes  contact  is  operated  from  a  crank  the  same  as  in  other 
systems. 


ELECTRIC   HEATERS.  75 


CHAPTER     VI. 


ELECTRIC      HEATERS. 


ANEW  feature  in  the  application  of  electricity  is  its  use  for  heating 
purposes  and  its  practicability  is  now  receiving  attention.  Its 
principal  merits  are  cleanliness  and  convenience,  although  at  present 
it  is  an  open  question  as  to  its  economy.  We  have  no  doubt  but  that 
within  a  short  time  it  will  be  so  perfected  that  economy  will  be  one 
of  its  strongest  claims.  The  Burton  Electric  Company,  the  original 
manufacturers,  control  absolutely  the  patents  of  Dr.  W.  Leigh  Bur- 
ton, covering  the  simplest  and  most  effective  devices  for  electric 
heating. 

The  heaters  require  for  constant  running  3  amperes  on  a  500-volt 
circuit,    which    is    the  customary  current  for  street  railway   work. 
3  X  500  volts=  1500  watts-f- 746=2  h.  p.,  required  to 
keep  the  car  warm  under  ordinary  circumstances. 

When  first  warming  the  cars,  it  is  found  desirable  to  operate  the 
heaters  in  multiple  for  a  few  minutes.  This  is  rather  expensive,  as 
the  current  required  to  operate  the  heaters  in  multiple  is  12  amperes 
on  a  500-volt  circuit. 

12X500  volts=:6ooo  watts-^746=a  little  over  8  h.  p. 

But  taking  into  consideration  hauling  coal,  care  of  fire,  dirt,  etc., 
the  electric  heaters  have  a  strong  claim  for  use  in  street  car  service. 

TJie  Burton  Electric  Car  Heater  is  shown  in  Fig.  63.  In  outward 
appearance  the  heater,  as  constructed  for  street  car  use,  is  a  fiat,  cor- 
rugated iron  casting  twenty-seven  inches  long  by  eight  inches  wide, 
mounted  upon  iron  legs,  which  raise  it  four  inches  from  the  car  floor. 

It  consists  of  two  corrugated  iron  castings,  holding  in  the  interven- 


76 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


ing  space  the  resistance  wire,  imbedded  in  finely  powdered,  dry  fire 
clay,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  readily  absorb  the  heat  as  generated 
in  the  wire,  and  prevent  the  oxidation  of  the  latter.  The  corrugation 
of  this  receptacle  is  unusually  pronounced,  in  order  that  the  radiating 
surface  may  be  as  great  as  possible.  All  joints  are  thoroughly  made, 
thus  preventing  the  slightest  loss  of  fire  clay.  Four  heaters  comprise 
the  equipment  for  an  ordinary  street  car.  As  shown  in  Fig.  64,  the 
heaters  are  placed  two  at  each  end  of  the  car  under  opposite  seats. 
The  group  is  so  wired  that  with  the  combination  switch  furnished  with 
each  set  they  may  be  operated  either  in  parallel  series  of  two  or  in 
direct  series  of  four. 

Provision  for  such  an  alteration  in  circuits  is  made  in  order  that  a 


FlCURE    63. 


car  may  be  heated  rapidly  before  starting  on  a  trip,  while  thereafter  a 
continuous  current  of  lesser  amperage  sustains  the  acquired  tempera- 
ture. No.  10  or  No.  12  triple  braid  weather-proof  wire  should  be 
used  to  connect  the  heaters  of  a  set.  Leaving  the  main  circuit  on 
the  line  side  of  the  motor  switch,  it  should  pass  from  heater  to 
heater  and  make  its  ground  connection  at  the  regular  ground  binding 
post  on  the  car  truck. 

Best  results,  moreover,  are  obtained  when  the  heaters  are  set 
within  tin  cases,  so  constructed  as  to  reflect  the  heat  into  the  car 
and  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  any  distribution  beneath   the  car 


ELECTRIC  HEATERS. 


77 


P-|i| 


•M, 


78  ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 

seats.  In  cases  where  the  seats  are  paneled,  the  panel  directly  in 
front  of  each  heater  should  be  removed  and  the  reflectors  so  arranged 
that  all  the  heat  from  the  heaters  will  be  reflected  through  their 
respective  openings.  While  not  necessary,  an  improved  appearance 
is  obtained  by  having  screens  fitted  to  the  openings.  It  should  be 
understood  that  the  heater  once  set  up  may  remain  in  the  car  the 
year  round,  without  the  slightest  inconvenience  to  employes  of  a  road 
or  its  patrons.  They  occupy  space  otherwise  unused  and  their  pres- 
ence never  reduces  the  seating  capacity  of  the  car.  The  fact  that 
the  heaters  once  set  up  require  no  further  attention  justifies  the 
small  trouble  and  expense  of  first-class  arrangement. 


TROLLEYS.  79 


CHAPTER    VII. 


TROLLEYS. 


THE  trolley  apparatus  is  used  to  make  the  contact  with  the  over- 
head wire  and  the  current  is  passed  through  it  to  the  motor 
upon  the  cars.  It  usually  consists  of  a  small  brass  grooved  wheel  five 
or  six  inches  in  diameter  centered  in  graphite  or  raw  hide  bearings 
and  mounted  upon  the  end  of  a  pole  ten  to  twelve  feet  long.  The 
pole  is  pivoted  upon  a  frame  which  is  fastened  upon  the  roof  of  a  car 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  trails  along  from  the  middle  of  the  car.  At 
the  lower  end  of  the  frame  is  a  spring,  or  springs,  which  press  the 
wheel  against  the  trolley  wire.  By  the  actions  of  these  springs  the 
contact  with  the  trolley  wire  is  kept  unbroken  as  its  height  varies. 
By  a  cram  arrangement  the  springs  are  made  to  act  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  equalize  the  pressure  of  the  pole  in  any  position  against  the 
wires  at  the  various  degrees  of  expansion  or  compression  of  the 
springs.  The  object  of  pivoting  the  pole  is  to  make  it  flexible  so  that 
it  may  move  in  any  direction.  The  pole  may  be  made  of  wood  (some- 
times bamboo)  or  of  steel.  Steel  poles  are  made  in  several  forms; 
they  may  be  straight,  tubular,  drawn  tapering  in  one  piece  or  in  sec- 
tions of  different  diameter.  In  some  cases  the  current  is  made  to 
pass  through  the  journal  of  the  trolley  wheel  or  through  brushes  and 
is  carried  through  the  pole  which  is  insulated  at  its  base  to  the  wire 
leading  to  the  motor. 

Figure  65  shows  the  trolley  pole  and  wheel  used  by  the  Rae  sys- 
tem. »  The  pole  is  made  of  tubular  steel,  and  is  drawn  to  three  reduc- 
tions, being  \  inch  in  diameter  at  the  top,  and  one  inch  at  the  bottom. 
A  pole  of  this  kind  is  quite  light  and  strong.  Fig.  ()6  shows  a  trolley 
stand   of  the  same  system,  from    which   the  reader   may   see  the 


80 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


Figure  65. 


Figure  66. 


TROLLEYS. 


81 


FiGURK    67. 


Figure  68. 


Figure  69. 


82 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


arrangement  of  the  springs  and  leverage  which  equalize  the  tension. 
Fig.  6^  shows  the  Boston  trolley,  which  is  used  by  the  Edison  and 
Westinghouse  systems.  Fig.  68  shows  Baker  trolley-pole  and  stand; 
Fig.  69  shows  Common  Sense  trolley  base ;  Fig.  70  shows  Short 
Sliding  trolley.  In  this  case  the  wheel  is  replaced  by  a  shoe  which 
slides  along  the  wire.     The  shoe  is  usually  lined  with  soft  metal,  which 


Figure  70. 


is  replaced  every  few  days  at  a  slight  cost,  as  it  soon  wears  out. 
An  old  form  formally  used  by  the  Sprague  Electric  Co.,  has  lately 
been  revived  by  Siemens  and  Halske  of  Berlin.  The  wheel  is  re- 
placed by  a  bar  of  metal,  which  gives  the  form  of  a  T.  The  object  of 
this  form  is  to  do  away  with  overhead  frogs,  but  it  has  the  disadvan- 
tage of  excessive  sparking. 


TROLLEYS. 


83 


The  Wightman  Electric  Mamifactiiring  Companies  Trolley,  has  a 
circular  base  having  teeth  on  its  upper  rim  to  engage  with  corre- 
sponding teeth  on  a  disc  shaped  flange  of  the  trolley  socket.  The 
lifting  springs  pull,  through  the  medium  of  a  chain  upon  a  projection 
centered  to  the  disc  underneath.  As  the  trolley  follows  the  wire 
around  curves  the  trolley  socket  rotates  slightly  by  means  of  the 
teeth  described  which  keeps  the  trolley  wheel  always  parallel  with 
the  wire.     (See  Fig.  71.) 


Figure  71. 


84  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

LOCOMOTIVES     FOR     HEAVY     TRACTION. 

THE  continued  success  of  electric  street  cars  and  the  demands  made 
by  street  railway  companies  for  larger  and  more  powerful  motors  to 
handle  their  cars,  has  led  others  interested  in  transportation  to  inves- 
tigate the  advantages  of  electric  locomotion,  with  the  result  that  not 
a  few  electric  tramways  are  in  operation  hauling  freight  about  in  cot- 
ton mills,  iron  works,  mines,  etc.  In  this  department  of  work,  also, 
there  has  been  a  constant  demand  for  more  powerful  motors,  so  that 
where  the  electric  locomotive  formerly  hauled  one  or  two  cars,  it  is 
now  required  to  haul  a  good-sized  train.  There  are  also  at  the  present 
time  under  process  of  manufacture  by  several  of  the  leading  electrical 
companies  fast  passenger  electric  locomotives,  which  are  designed  to 
travel  at  a  higher  rate  of  speed  and  to  surplant  the  steam  locomotive. 
Recently  two  of  leading  companies,  the  Thomson-Houston  Co.  and 
the  Edison  Electric  Co.  have  placed  upon  the  market  electric  loco- 
motives for  the  purpose  of  heavy  traction,  such  as  hauling  freight 
cars,  etc. 

The  New  100  H.  P.  Thomson-Houston  Freight  Locomotive,  of  which 
two  views  are  given  (see  Figs.  72  and  73),  has  a  capacity  of  one  hun- 
dred horse-power.  The  Whitinsville  Machine  Co.,  of  Whitinsville, 
Mass.,  for  whom  the  locomotive  was  built,  purpose  to  carry  their 
merchandise  back  and  forth  from  the  railway  station  to  their  works, 
a  distance  of  i^  miles,  by  means  of  electric  power. 

The  locomotive  is  built  in  a  square  form  with  a  platform  for  carry- 
ing loads,  and  cow-catchers  and  draw-bars  at  each  end.  The  power 
is  to  be  furnished  by  a  large  generator  located  at  the  works  of  the 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY    TRACTION. 


85 


86  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

Whitin  Machine  Co.,  and  conveyed  over  a  trolley  wire  from  which  it 
is  taken  by  means  of  a  universal  trolley  bar  attached  to  the  locomo- 
tive. The  construction  of  the  truck  is  well  shown  in  the  engraving. 
The  motor  employed  is  one  of  the  well-known  "G"  type  of  the 
Thomson-Houston  Electric  Co.,  and  the  power  is  communicated 
from  the  armature  to  the  rear  axle  by  means  of  double  reduction 
gearing,  and  from  the  rear  axle  to  the  forward  one  by  means  of 
parallel  rods.  The  motor  consists  of  wrought  iron  field  magnets, 
which  are  bolted  to  magnetic  yokes  of  mitis  iron.  One  of  these 
yokes  carries  the  bearings  which  support  that  end  of  the  motor  on 
the  axle,  while  the  other  yoke  is  spring  supported  from  the  other 
axle.  This  keeps  the  gears  always  in  line,  and  meshing  correctly 
with  each  other,  and  at  the  same  time  provides  considerable  spring 
support  for  the  motor. 

The  gearing  consists  of  aluminum  bronze  pinions  and  mitis  iron 
gear  wheels.  This  gearing  runs  in  gear  cases,  in  which  a  plentiful 
supply  of  grease  is  placed.  This  decreases  the  noise,  friction  and 
wear,  and  increases  the  life  of  the  gears  very  materially.  On  the 
intermediate  shaft  is  heavily  keyed  a  mitis  iron  brake  drum,  which  is 
covered  with  wood  lagging.  It  is  embraced  by  two  half  bands  of 
steel,  tightened  upon  it  by  means  of  the  brake  drum  lever,  situated 
in  the  operating  stand. 

The  wheels  are  42  inches  in  diameter,  and  are  heavily  steel  tired, 
and  the  frame  consists  of  two  heavy  side  plates,  in  which  are  located 
the  main  axle  bearings.  Two  heavy  cast-iron  end  plates  in  which  are 
cast  the  cow-catchers,  are  bolted  to  the  side  plates  by  means  of  heavy 
through  bolts,  which  are  a  driving  fit  in  reamed  holes.  These  end 
plates  carry  the  heavy  spring  draw-cars  and  bumpers. 

The  operating  platform  is  located  at  one  end  of  the  main  platform, 
and  is  encased  in  a  railing  and  covered  with  a  protecting  roof.  On 
this  platform  are  located  the  levers  for  operating  the  controlling 
mechanism,  the  brake  and  the  double-acting  sand  boxes.  The  uni- 
versal trolley  bar  also  extends  upwards  from  the  locomotive  at  this 
point. 


88  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY   ENGINEERING. 

The  controlling  mechanism  consists  of  two  large  rheostats  of  the 
well-known  Thomson-Houston  railway  type.  These  are  so  arranged 
with  their  contact  shoes  that  no  reversing  switch  is  needed.  The 
operator  stands  so  that  he  always  faces  in  the  direction  in  which  the 
locomotive  is  to  go,  and  being  in  this  position  he  pushes  the  rheostat 
lever  from  him  to  make  the  locomotive  go  forward,  and  pulls  it  towards 
him  to  make  it  go  backward.  A  positive  centre  lock  is  provided,  so 
that  in  turning  the  current  off,  there  is  no  danger  of  passing  the  neu- 
tral point  on  the  rheostat,  and  so  reversing  the  locomotive  with  the 
current  on.  When  the  operator  stands  in  the  above  mentioned  posi- 
tion, he  pushes  the  brake  lever  from  him  in  order  to  apply  the  brake. 
The  bands  are  so  arranged  on  the  brake-drum  that  the  friction  tends 
to  tighten  them  up  more  upon  the  wood  lagging,  and  so  assist  the 
operator  in  braking  the  train. 

The  following  data  give  the  details  of  construction  of  the  new 
locomotive,  the  construction  of  which  has  been  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  Mr.  J.  P.  B.  Fiske,  who  is  in  charge  of  all  the  motor 
work  of  the  company,  except  that  relating  to  street  railways  and 
long  distance  transmission  : 

Wheel  base 6'  4'' 

Diameter  of  wheels 42" 

Speed  reduction  between  armature  and  axle i  to  25 

Gauge 4'  8^"  standard 

Wheel   base 6'  4^' 

Measured  height  above  rail  platform 4'  4" 

Greatest  length  of  locomotive  (at  cow-catcher)....  15'  9^" 

Greatest  length  of  platform 12'  7^' 


\'> 


Greatest  width  of  platform 7'  i? 

Weight  of  complete  locomotive,  less  trolley  pole.  .  .     42,525  lbs. 
Approximate  weight  of  motor ....     5,400  lbs. 

A  combined  main  switch,  lightning  arrester  and  fuse-box  is  placed 
within  easy  reach  of  the  motorman,  so  that  he  can  instantly  shut  the 
current  off  from  the  locomotive  by  a  slight  movement  of  the  hand. 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY    TRACTION.  89 

The  construction  of  the  motor  is  of  the  most  rigid  and  waterproof 
character,  the  field  spools  having  their  wire  enclosed  and  entirely 
sewed  up  in  canvas  bags,  which  are  covered  with  a  heavy  coating  of 
waterproof  paint.  The  locomotive,  which  weighs  42,525  lbs.,  is 
designed  to  operate  at  500  volts.  This  will  enable  it  to  pull  a  train 
of  four  to  six  heavily  loaded  cars,  or  an  aggregate  load  of  200  to  300 
tons,  at  a  speed  of  five  miles  an  hour  on  a  level. 

The  Edison  Electric  Locomotive  (see  Fig.  74)  was  designed  specially 
for  mining  work,  but  is  easily  applicable  to  any  class  of  factory  em- 
ployment, whether  within  the  walls,  or  on  the  tracks  communicating 
with  the  main  lines  of  steam  railroad.  It  has  a  70  kilo  watt  motor 
which  is  of  a  multipolar  type  designed  to  run  on  500  volts  with  20 
amperes,  at  700  revolutions  per  minute.  At  this  speed,  it  is  calcu- 
lated that  the  motor  will  propel  the  locomotive  and  pull  a  train 
weighing  1 10  tons  on  the  level  at  the  rate  of  seven  and  a  half  miles 
per  hour.  The  armature  is  of  the  Gramme-ring  type,  the  commuta- 
tor having  150  divisions  and  receiving  current  from  four  carbon 
brushes.  The  magnet  frame  is  of  cast  iron  and  has  four  inward 
poles  upon  which  the  magnet  winding  is  placed.  Projections  cast  on 
the  magnet  frame  form  supports  for  the  bearings.  The  power  is 
transmitted  from  a  pinion  on  the  armature  shaft,  to  a  gear  wheel  on 
an  intermediate  shaft,  a  pinion  on  which  meshes  into  a  heavy  gun 
metal  gear  on  one  of  the  wheel  shafts.  The  four  wheels  are  arranged 
outside  of  the  frame  and  are  connected  two  and  two  by  con- 
necting rods  on  either  side  of  the  frame.  Powerful  brakes  are 
provided  for  each  wheel  actuated  by  one  brake  lever  which  applies 
the  brake  to  all  the  wheels  at  the  same  time.  The  wheel  base  of 
this  locomotive  is  44  inches  by  44  inches  ;  44  inches  being  an  ordi- 
nary mine  gauge.  The  motor  is  controlled  by  means  of  three 
switches,  main,  reversing  and  regulating.  The  main  switch  is  used 
for  starting  and  stopping  the  locomotive,  the  reversing  switch  for 
running  it  in  either  direction,  and  the  regulating  switch  for  increas- 
ing or  diminishing  speed.     The  regulating  switch  is  constructed  on 


90 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  TRACTION.  91 

the  same  lines  as  the  regular  street  car  switch,  and  is  used  for  com- 
mutating  two  fixed  resistance  coils  and  the  field  windings  of  the 
motor.  The  resistance  coils  are  very  substantial,  being  constructed 
of  sheet  iron  discs  ;  they  are  fixed  at  the  opposite  end  to  the  driver. 
Sand  boxes  are  supplied  for  sanding  the  rails  in  case  of  the  wheels 
slipping.  These  are  controlled  by  two  handles  arranged  on  the  right 
of  the  switch  board.  The  driver  has  thus  all  of  the  six  controlling 
levers  within  his  reach.  Draw  head  boxes  are  fixed  at  either  end,  so 
that  the  coupling  link  can  be  secured  at  any  desired  height.  A 
trolley  similar  to  that  used  on'  a  street  car  is  fastened  on  the  top  of 
the  frame  and  brings  current  on  to  the  motor. 

The  weight  of  the  locomotive  complete  is  about  20,000  lbs.,  and 
the  overall  dimensions  are  as  follows  : 

Height,  49  inches, 

Width,  57 

Length,  128.^  " 


92  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY   ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


TRUCKS. 


THE  same  logic  that  was  used  in  the  comparison  of  electric  and 
horse  car  lines  applies  equally  well  to  the  rolling  stock.  The 
cars  suitable  for  horse  draught  sustain  small  strains,  and  the  pedes- 
tals supporting  the  axle  boxes  are  usually  attached  directly  to  the 
side  timbers  of  the  car  bodies  and  the  wheels  are  light  and  the  axles 
small.  In  electric  cars  the  driving  power  acts  as  a  torsional  strain  on 
the  axle ;  this  is  usually  made  3^  inches  in  diameter,  with  wheels 
of  corresponding  strength.  The  axle  boxes  are  held  in  frames  that 
form  a  truck  independent  of  the  car  body.  The  car  body  can  be  re- 
moved and  replaced  much  the  same  as  in  the  case  with  steam  cars. 
The  motors  hang  from  the  axles  for  one  bearing ;  their  other  ends 
pointing  toward  each  other  and  connect  with  a  flexible  suspension 
upon  arch  bars  or  I  beams  that  cross  the  centre  of  the  truck,  paral- 
lel with  the  axles.  As  in  other  departments  of  manufactures,  differ- 
ent firms  produce  varieties  of  truck  construction. 

The  Thomson-Houston  Company  was  the  first  to  build  special 
electric  car  trucks.  In  these,  four  wrought  iron  forgings  are  bolted 
together  to  form  a  rectangle.  The  "side  bars"  are  bent  into  an 
inverted  square,  U  shape,  where  each  axle  box  is  located,  being  loose 
enough  to  allow  for  the  necessary  up  and  down  movement.  Two 
bars  of  flat  iron,  one  arching  upwards,  and  one  downwards  cross  the 
car  half  way  between;  the  end  members  of  the  truck  afford  the 
"  nose"  support  of  the  motors.  Springs  and  fastening  devices  serve 
to  connect  the  truck  frame  with  the  car  body.  In  spite  of  the  double 
set  of  springs  used,  electric  cars  ride  none  too  smoothly. 

The  Edison  Company  are  now  using  a  truck  of  their  own  manu- 


94  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

facture  in  which  an  illustration  is  given  in  Fig.  75 — they  formerly 
used  the  Stephenson  truck  with  most  of  their  equipments ;  this  is 
unlike  the  Thomson  Houston,  in  that  the  side  bars  are  made  of  wood 
and  have  the  pedestals  bolted  to  them,  instead  of  directly  to  the 
car  bodies.  The  arrangement  of  springs  is  essentially  the  same  as 
in  constructions  by  other  firms. 

The  Rae  Truck  (see  Figs.  j6  and  Tj)  is  of  quite  different  con- 
struction from  either  the  preceding,  due  to  the  different  application 
of  the  motive  power.  As  but  one  motor  is  used  on  each,  the  two 
axles  need  to  be  kept  in  pretty  definite  relation  to  each  other ;  other- 
wise the  gearing  would  be  damaged.  The  construction  is  a  rectangle 
of  I  beams  firmly  riveted  together,  other  cross  beams  support  the 
motor  and  the  bearings  for  the  bevel  gears.  Such  a  car  runs  well  on 
smooth  track,  but  on  uneven  roads  the  strains  to  which  the  frame 
is  subjected  is  severe.  Instead  of  ordinary'  gun  metal  bearings  for 
axle  boxes  the  Tripp  Car  Company  are  introducing  roller  bearings 
with  good  results. 

For  long  cars  the  single  truck  is  insuflficient.  The  Robinson 
Radial  Car  Company  have  brought  out  an  ingenious  six-wheeled  car 
that  has  met  with  excellent  success.  Each  axle  is  mounted  in  a  sep- 
arate truck ;  the  end  ones  swivel  on  pivots,  and  turn  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  centre  truck  as  the  wheels  encounter  curves.  The  car 
body  rests  on  all  three  trucks,  but  the  weight  is  transmitted  through 
rolls,  so  as  to  allow  easy  movement  of  the  mechanism.  The  end 
axles  are  driven  by  motors,  the  centre  one  running  idle. 

Long  cars  are  also  fitted  with  "  bogie  "  trucks,  similar  to  a  steam 
car.  Such  a  truck  has  usually  two  axles,  and  four  wheels  and  pivoted 
to  the  car  body,  to  allow  the  necessary  swing  on  curves  and  turns 
and  they  make  very  easy  riding  cars,  as  all  ordinary  shocks  are 
neutralized  before  the  car  body  has  received  any  jar.  Usually  two 
motors  are  on  every  car;  with  "bogie"  trucks  both  motors  are  at 
the  same  end  of  the  car,  the  other  truck  running  idle.  If  a  motor 
is  put  on  each  truck,  the  wheels  will  not  take  switches  so  well,  and 
the  wiring  will  be  more  complicated. 


TRUCKS. 


95 


96 


ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


TRUCKS.  97 

The  Brill  Car  Company  has  put  out  a  new  truck  which  is  intended 
for  one  motor  only.  In  this,  the  drivers  are  wheels  of  larger  diame- 
ters than  the  other  two,  and  the  pivot  is  close  to  the  axle  of  the 
former  consequently  the  weight  of  the  car  comes  principally  upon 
those  wheels  which  need  the  weight  for  traction  purposes. 

Many  other  designs  of  trucks  are  made  but  space  will  not  allow 
for  their  description  here.  Those  given  above  are  the  principal  ones 
and  the  author  trusts  that  the  reader  may  obtain  a  fair  understand- 
ing of  trucks  in  general  from  these  descriptions. 


ELECTRIC  KAILIVAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER  X. 


CAR   WIRING. 


CAR  wiring  requires  considerable  skill.  The  difficulty  of  keeping 
good  insulation  tires  the  wireman's  patience,  while  the  rattle  and 
shaking  of  the  car  keeps  the  wires  in  constant  danger  of  loosening 
from  the  binding  clamps,  and  of  breaking  into  pieces.  Instead  of 
solid  wires,  cables  heavily  insulated,  such  as  Clark  or  Okonite  brands 
are  usually  employed.  No.  6  is  a  convenient  and  suitable  size  and 
all  joints  should  be  carefully  wound  with  tape.  When  a  rheostat  is 
employed  the  wiring  is  simplest.  Even  then  there  are  three  cables 
for  each  motor  for  field  connections,  and  the  two  brush  cables. 
With  "controller"  systems  which  use  various  combinations  of  the 
field  coils  to  effect  the  regulation,  even  more  cables  are  usually  em- 
ployed. 

In  wiring,  the  cables  must  be  left  long  enough  to  allow  for  the 
jolting  of  the  car  body  on  the  truck,  yet  not  long  enough  to  dangle 
and  chafe  against  the  brake  rods,  or  the  chains  or  cables  that  move 
the  rheostat  and  reversing  switch.  It  has  been  usual  in  previous 
years  to  employ  but  one  reversing  switch  to  change  the  direction  of 
both  motors.  With  the  high  speed  double  reduction  type  of  motors, 
this  worked  satisfactorily.  Single  reduction  motors  have  so  low  elec- 
trical resistance  in  the  armature  that  the  difference  of  pressure  or 
conductivity  of  the  carbon  brushes,  or  the  condition  of  the  contact  of 
wheels  with  rails,  will  result  in  sending  more  current  through  one 
motor  than  through  the  other.  A  separate  reversing  switch  for  each 
motor  so  arranged  that  the  circuits  for  the  two  motors  are  kept  sep- 
arate will  balance  this  resistance  so  that  each  motor  will  take  equal 
amounts  of  current. 

With  "controller"  systems  a  separate  reversing  switch  need  not 


CAR  WIRING.  99 

be  used,  but  can  be  incorporated  in  the  mechanism  of  the  "controller 
stand."  With  the  latter  method  of  regulating  street  car  motors, 
cables  carrying  currents  under  the  maximum  difference  of  potentials, 
are  very  close — even  cross  each  other.  This  consequently  endangers 
short  circuiting. 

Fuses  and  lightning  arresters,  necessary  adjuncts  to  an  electrical 
installation,  are  also  in  full  demand  upon  electric  cars.  For  lighting 
the  car,  incandescent  lamps  are  used.  When  the  pressure  of  the 
line  current  is  500  volts,  icx>volt  lamps  are  used.  When  the  pres- 
sure of  the  line  current  is  550  volts,  no-volt  lamps  are  used.  Five 
lamps  are  placed  in  series.  Each  of  the  circuits  of  the  car  are  inde- 
pendent. There  is  one  for  each  motor  when  they  are  in  multiple, 
one  for  the  lightning  arrester,  one  for  the  lamps  and  when  electric 
heaters  are  used,  one  for  them,  {see  chapter  upon  electric  heaters); 
of  course  there  are  some  variations  from  these  rules  in  different  sys- 
tems. To  illustrate,  diagrams  of  two  systems  of  car  wiring  are 
given,  namely :    The  Edison  and  the  Thomson-Houston  systems. 

Fig.  78  shows  plan  of  Edison  system.  Connections  upon  motor 
board  as  shown  in  diagram  read  : 

oB+. 

o  A+, 
oC+, 

o  C — , 
o  A — , 

o  B— . 

The  Cut-Out  Szvitch  is  the  point  at  which  the  current  divides  and 
goes  to  the  machines  (they  being  in  parallel).  Its  principal  object  is 
to  allow  an  easy  way  to  cut  out  either  machine  when  necessary,  each 
of  the  main  wires  running  from  switch  to  switch  having  correspond- 
ing wires  running  from  them  to  machines. 

The  cut-out  as  shown  in  diagram  reads :  4-Arm.,  +C,  +3,  +A, 
— A,  — B,  — C,  — Arm. 

The  Controlling  Switch  is  the  switch  from  which  speed  of  the  car 


100 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CAR  WIRING.  101 

is  controlled.  The  plates  on  roller  are  placed  so  that  they  either  com- 
plete a  circuit,  or  break  or  short  circuit  it;  according  to  what  sections 
the  machine  is  designed  to  use  on  the  respective  positions.  They 
also  place  the  sections  in  series  or  parallel  as  required. 

First  Position.  The  current  goes  through  A  coils,  then  through 
B  and  C  to  armature,  to  rheostat  or  slow  start,  device  to  ground, 
always  going  to  switch  after  passing  through  each  section  before 
going  through  another.  Second  Position.  In  some  cases  it  is  the 
same  as  the  first,  excepting  that  rheostat  is  cut  out,  but  as  shown  in 
diagram  the  A  section  is  short  circuited,  or  is  not  used,  the  current 
going  to  B  and  C,  to  armature,  to  ground.  Third  Position.  The  A 
section  is  cut  out,  as  A  minus  button  rests  on  a  dead  plate  there  is 
no  circuit.  The  other  sections  same  as  second  position.  Fourth 
Position.  This  position  places  A  and  B  sections  in  parallel,  that  is, 
the  current  is  divided  in  two  paths.  The  current  that  goes  through 
A  section  does  not  go  through  B,  but  goes  direct  to  C,  as  also  does 
B's  current,  thus  placing  C  in  series  with  them.  Fifth  Position. 
The  A  and  B  sections  in  parallel,  C  section  short  circuited.  Both  of 
the  C  buttons  rest  on  the  same  plate  on  roller,  as  also  does  the  A 
minus  and  B  minus  rest  on  same  plate.  The  current  goes  from  them 
direct  to  armature.  Sixth  Position.  The  same  as  fifth.  The  C 
minus  button  resting  on  dead  plate  on  roller.  Seventh  Position. 
The  A,  B  and  C  sections  are  in  parallel,  current  going  directly  from 
each  section  to  armature.  The  C  minus  plates  and  armature  plus 
plates  are  connected  by  a  wire  in  roller,  as  also  are  some  others,  as 
can  be  seen  by  referring  to  diagram. 

A  plan  of  the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Companies'  standard 
car  wiring  is  given  in  Figs.  79  and  80.  In  this  plan  there  are  two 
W.  P.,  R.  R.  motors  in  multiple. 

C,  C,  are  the  two  Railway  Motor  Switches. 

D,  is  No.  15  Light  Branch  Switch. 

E,  is  the  Reversing  Switch. 

F,  F,  are  the  M.  F.  S.  P. — No.  10 — 35  Light  Cut-out  Boxes,  (using  4  ampere 

fuse- wire.) 

G,  Railway  Motor  Cut-out  Box. 


102 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CAR  WIRING.  108 

H,  H,  are  the  PUot  Lamps. 

I,  is  the  Cluster  of  Three  Lamps  in  Car. 

K,  K,  are  the  Controlling  Stands. 

O,  is  the  Lightning  Arrester. 

M,  is  the  Rheostat. 

N,  is  the  Trolley  Stand. 

The  path  of  the  current  in  the  car  circuit  is  as  follows  :  From 
trolley  wheel  to  trolley  base  to  one  corner  of  car  to  switch  C,  over 
niotorneer's  head,  to  opposite  end  of  car  through  a  similar  switch  C ; 
then  down  on  corner  of  the  car  to  fuse  box  or  "cut-out"  G,  through 
lightning  arrester  O.  From  here  one  wire  leads  to  "ground"  on 
both  car  axles,  through  which  the  current  flows  when  a  lightning 
stroke  is  received.  The  current  regularly  passes  to  the  center  stud 
of  the  rheostat  M.  When  the  rheostat  arm  touches  the  contacts  in 
the  semi-circular  trough,  the  current  passes  by  wire  from  Y,  to  each 
field  spool  on  the  motors  ;  then  to  armatures  of  each  motor,  back  to 
reversing  switches  to  "ground."  If  the  rheostat  arm  is  moved  over 
to  the  extreme  limit,  the  contact  is  made  with  a  plate  connecting 
with  wire  X.  The  current  then  passes  through  only  part  of  each 
field  spool ;  that  is,  cuts  out  part  of  the  winding.  A  reduction  in 
the  intensity  of  the  field  magnetism  results,  and  allows  more  current 
to  flow  through  the  armature,  giving  highest  speed  of  revolutions. 
When  running  with  these  connections  the  motor  is  said  to  be  on  its 
rheostatic  coil  or  "loop." 

The  circuit  for  the  lamps  is  taken  from  the  main  wire  near  the 
switch  C,  thence  through  the  switch  D,  to  fuse-box  F,  through  the 
five  lamps  in  series  H,  I  and  H,  through  fuse-box  F  on  other  end  of 
car  through  lightning  arrester  O,  to  ground. 


104  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


THE    STORAGE    BATTERY    SYSTEM. 


THE  most  familiar  form  of  storage  battery  or  accumulator  cells 
consists  of  lead  plates  coated  with  oxides  of  lead,  immersed  in 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  which  after  being  acted  upon  by  having  an 
electric  current  sent  through  them  for  a  certain  length  of  time  will 
by  chemical  changes  taking  place  in  the  plates,  generate  a  current 
of  electricity  in  a  circuit,  the  current  being  in  an  opposite  direction. 
The  reader  may  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  principle,  from  a  description  of 
The  Electrical  Accumulator  Company's  storage  cell,     (See  Fig.  8i). 

This  cell  is  made  up  of  fifteen  plates,  eight  negatives  and 
seven  positives,  and  is  especially  adapted  to  isolated  and  central 
station  lighting.  The  electro-motive  force  of  the  cell  is  about  2 
volts.  The  internal  resistance  is  extremely  low,  say  from  .001  to 
.005  ohm,  and  the  range  of  the  current  large.  The  capacity  of  the 
cell  in  perfect  condition  is  somewhat  underestimated  at  300  ampere- 
hours  ;  30  amperes,  a  safe  working  current,  will  last  for  over  ten 
hours,  with  not  exceeding  10  per  cent  drop  in  electro-motive  force, 
or  a  less  current  will  be  supplied  by  the  cell  for  a  proportionately 
greater  number  of  hours.  A  greater  rate  —  up  to  300  amperes  — 
could  also  be  obtained,  but  so  great  a  strain  upon  this  size  of  cell 
would  injure  the  plates. 

The  chief  advantage  to  be  obtained  from  a  storage  battery  system 
is  to  do  away  with  overhead  wires.  Of  course  a  power  station  is 
necessary  where  the  batteries  may  be  charged  from  dynamos,  after 
which  they  are  placed  upon  the  car  (usually  underneath  the  seats), 
and  the  car  is  equipped  with  motors.  (See  Fig.  82.)  Enough  cells 
are  placed  on  the  car  to  run  it  about  twelve  hours,  after  which  they 


STORAGE  BATTERY  SYSTEM. 


105 


Figure  8i. 


106  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

must  be  removed  and  newly  charged  cells  put  in  their  place.  Un- 
fortunately storage  batteries  are  very  heavy,  and  their  weight  added 
to  the  weight  of  a  car  and  its  motors  require  more  electrical  power  to 
propel  them,  besides  much  of  the  efficiency  of  the  cells  are  lost  by  their 
heating  from  ohmic  resistance,  also  from  over  charging,  forming  of 
foreign  substances  such  as  basic  sulphates,  etc.,  in  the  cells.  Another 
serious  fault  is  the  buckling,  particularly  the  positive  plates  which 
finally  results  in  a  short  circuit  and  destruction  of  the  plates.  A 
new  cell  called  the  alkaline  zuicate  cell  has  recently  been  brought 
forward  and  which  is  lighter  than  the  heaviest  lead  plates  and  is 
meeting  with  some  success.  The  positive  electrodes  consist  of  por- 
ous copper  plates  which  are  formed  by  the  compression  of  finely  di- 
vided electrolytic  copper  upon  a  nucleus  of  copper  gauze.  They 
are  surrounded  by  parchment  paper  cells  to  prevent  any  cupric  oxide 
which  is  slightly  soluble  in  caustic  alkalies,  but  does  not  dialyze 
readily,  —  from  becoming  mixed  with  the  potassium  zuicate.  The 
negative  electrodes  are  made  of  amalgamated  tinned  iron  wire  gauze. 
Its  E.  M.  F.  is  about  .8  of  avolt  per  couple. 

Although  a  great  deal  has  been  claimed  for  the  storage  battery 
system  it  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  at  the  present  time  there  is 
not  a  road  in  the  United  States  operated  by  this  system.  Several 
electrical  companies  are  experimenting,  among  which  is  the  Ford  & 
Washburn  Co.  of  Cleveland.  An  illustration  of  their  storage  bat- 
tery car  is  given  in  Fig.  83. 

The  following  account  of  their  trial  trip  was  taken  from  Bubier^s 
Popular  Electrician  of  April, '92  :  "Last  month  the  Ford  &  Washburn 
Storage  Battery  Co.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  ran  experimental  trips  with 
their  storage  battery  car.  Short  trips  were  at  first  made  along  Wood- 
land Avenue,  between  Willson  and  East  Madison  Avenues,  and  were 
quite  successful.  On  Saturday  afternoon  at  8  o'clock  the  new  car, 
loaded  down  with  city  officials,  newspaper  men  and  other  prominent 
gentlemen,  made  a  trip  to  Lake  View  cemetery  and  back.  The  start 
was  made  from  the  corner  of  Water  and  St.  Clair  streets,  and  the 
run  to    Lake  View  was  made  in   twenty-six  minutes.     This  is  con- 


108 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


STORAGE  BATTENY  SYSTEM.  109 

sidered  very  good  time,  especially  so  as  the  car  was  delayed  a  few 
minutes  at  the  Euclid  avenue  crossing  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg 
Railroad.  The  ride  was  a  pleasant  one,  the  new  car  skimming  over 
the  excellent  track  of  the  East  Cleveland  road  very  smoothly. 
Curves  were  rounded  with  scarcely  any  jarring,  and  the  grades  be- 
tween Willson  avenue  and  the  cemetery  were  ascended  easily  and 
without  any  apparent  modification  of  speed.  All  the  gentlemen  in 
the  party  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  the  system  is  a  good 
one  and  success  is  predicted  for  it.  The  motor  is  underneath  the 
floor  of  the  car,  running  lengthwise  from  end  to  end,  and  the  bat- 
teries are  placed  on  either  side  under  the  seats.  The  car  can  be 
made  to  go  at  almost  any  rate  of  speed,  fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  an 
hour  being  the  customary  rate.  We  wish  them  every  success." 
In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said,  although  much  desired,  the  success 
of  the  storage  battery  system  has  not  yet  been  established,  all 
past  and  present  efforts  being  only  experimental. 


1 1 0  ELECTRIC  RA IL  IV A  Y  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER     XII. 


SOME     ILLUSTRATIVE     ROADS. 


EXPERIENCE  proves  that  electricity  is  the  best  power  for  street 
car  propulsion.  Its  advantages  over  the  horse  railway  system 
are:  its  economy,  its  greater  speed,  and  larger  cars,  with  more 
seating  capacity.  Also,  one  motor  car  can  be  made  to  draw  one  or 
more  cars  (see  Fig.  84),  as  the  needs  of  the  public  require.  Its  use 
is  therefore  an  advantage  both  to  the  company  and  the  public  whom 
they  serve.  To  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  what  has  and  is  being 
done  in  this  direction,  a  brief  description  will  be  given  of  some 
proposed  roads  and  of  some  in  actual  operation. 

Proposed  System  of  the  Paris  Underground  Electric  Railway.  — 
*The  construction  of  the  proposed  underground  electric  railway  for 
Paris  will  probably  commence  May  i,  1892,  and  it  will  require  two 
years  to  complete  it,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  engineer, 
J.  B.  Berlier,  of  the  Compagnie  Les  Tramways  Tubulaires  Souter- 
rains  de  Paris. 

As  the  question  of  rapid  transit  in  New  York  city  and  Chicago  is 
now  exciting  much  comment,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  many  to  see 
the  methods  to  be  used  in  the  construction  at  Paris. 

The  total  cost  of  the  tunnel  and  equipment  will  be  54,ooo,0(X> 
francs,  or  4,500  francs  per  metre  for  the  tunnel,  and  an  expenditure 
of  200,000  francs  for  each  station. 

The  total  length  of  the  line  first  to  be  built  is  6.1  miles  (11  kilo- 
metres), and  will  extend  from  Bois  de  Boulogne  across  the  city  to  the 
Porte  de  Vincennes.  The  entire  system  is  divided  into  three  lines  ; 
the  first  connects  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 

♦Electrical  Review. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS. 


tu 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS. 


113 


and  is  to  have  five  stations  ;  the  second  will  start  at  Place  de  la 
Concorde  and  end  at  the  Place  de  la  Bastile,  passing  under  Rue 
Royale  and  under  the  grand  boulevards  (Fig  85),  with  seven  stations 
along  the  line  ;  third  line  will  extend  from  Place  de  la  Concorde  to 
the  Porte  de  Vincennes,  and  will  be  connected  to  the  first  two.  The 
whole  system  will  be  underground,  except  at  the  bassin  de  I'Arsenal 
which  will  be  a  viaduct. 

The  tunnel  is  to  be  water-tight  and  constructed  of  cast  iron  plates 
(1.5  metres)  ij^  metres  long,  50  centimetres  (^  metre)  wide  and 
2>^  centimetres  thick.     These  plates  will  be  so  put  together  as  to 


—  Mode  d' aeration 

Figure   86. 

form  a  tube  5.6  metres  in  diameter,  and  the  tunnel  will  be  con- 
structed in  the  same  manner  as  that  at  London,  by  hydraulic  presses. 
The  ventilation  is  accomplished  by  shafts  placed  along  the  tunnel  at 
intervals  (Fig.  86)  of  50  metres,  and  Mr.  Berlier  claims  that  the 
movement  of  the  trains  will  be  sufficient  to  insure  perfect  ventilation. 
He  also  claims  that  many  people  will  prefer  traveling  in  the  tunnel 
to  being  rattled  about  in  the  omnibuses  used  at  the  present  time,  for 
it  will  be  very  comfortable  traveling,  as  the  tunnels  will  be  lighted 
throughout  with  incandescent  lamps,  the  stations  with  arc  lamps 
and  the  carriages  with  electric  lights  varying  from  10  to  35  candle- 


114 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


power  each,  and  the  temperature  in  the  tunnel  will  be  more  uniform 
than  in  the  street,  being  cooler  in  summer  and  warmer  in  winter, 
while  the  only  thing  to  contaminate  the  atmosphere  of  the  tunnel 
will  be  the  respiration  of  the  passengers,  as  there  is  no  smoke  and 
no  use  of  oxygen  for  gas  or  other  lights.     The  stations  are  25  to  30 


Figure  87, 

metres  long  and  1 5  metres  wide  (Fig.  Zf),  and  large  staircases  will 
lead  to  the  street,  while  at  the  stations  at  Arc  de  Triomphe  and 
Gare  de  Lyon  there  will  be  electric  elevators. 

The  tunnel  is  to  be  placed  1,5  metres  below  the  surface  of  the 
street  as  a  minimum,  and  the  maximum  depth  is  at  the  Arc  de 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS. 


115 


116  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY   ENGINEERING. 

Triomphe,  where  it  is  i8  metres  below,  and  hence  an  elevator  is 
necessary  at  this  point.  The  heaviest  grade  is  at  the  Place  de  la 
Bastile,  where  the  road  passes  over  the  canal ;  at  this  point  for  over 
20  metres  the  grade  is  six  per  cent  or  six  centimetres  per  metre. 

The  central  power  station  will  be  placed  underground  at  the  Place 
de  la  Bastile,  and  will  have  a  total  capacity  of  4,000  horse  power. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Electrical  Age,  N.  Y.,  appeared  the  follow- 
ing description  of  a  new  system  of  electric  street  car  propulsion, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Engineering  Company.  The 
system  is  the  invention  of  Mr.  Granville  T.  Woods,  who  made  an 
arrangement  with  the  American  Engineering  Company  to  put  his 
invention  into  practical  operation.  The  relations  between  the 
parties  have,  through  a  misunderstanding,  been  severed,  and  Mr. 
Woods  now  claims  that  the  company's  possession  of  the  patents  on 
his  invention  were  obtained  in  an  irregular  manner. 

The  system  is  known  as  the  "Multiple  Distributing  Station  Sys- 
tem," and  possesses  features  that  are  novel  and  distinct  from  any- 
thing ever  devised  for  street  car  work.  Between  the  rails,  12  feet 
apart,  are  laid  iron  blocks  or  "heads  "  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary 
granite  paving-block.  Each  of  these  iron  blocks  is  connected 
electrically  by  an  underground  wire  to  the  distributing  station  near 
by.  The  distributing  stations  are  built  in  the  form  of  lamp-posts. 
In  each  lamp  post  is  placed  the  distributing  apparatus,  which  con- 
sists of  an  automatically  operated  switch,  which  connects  the  feeder- 
wire  with  the  "heads "  as  the  car  passes  over  each  of  the  latter,  and 
after  the  car  has  passed,  the  "head"  becomes  disconnected  with  the 
feeder  a^d  becomes  "dead."  In  this  way,  only  the  "head"  imme- 
diately under  the  car  is  alive  as  the  car  passes  over  it.  The  connec- 
tion between  the  "head"  and  the  motor  is  formed  by  contact- 
brushes  attached  to  the  car,  and  when  the  front  brush  strikes  a 
"head"  the  rear  brush  is  just  leaving  one. 

In  Figure  88,  A  and  B  represent  two  of  these  distributing  stations, 
showing  the  contact-pointers,  which  are  turned  automatically.  In 
the  diagram  at  the  left  hand  is  shown  the  position  of  the  motor  car 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS. 


U7 


^^i'-^ii 


118  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

on  the  "heads,"  and  the  "head"  directly  under  the  car,  it  will  be 
noticed,  is  connected  with  the  feeder  through  the  automatic  switch. 

The  main  features  of  this  system  are  that  there  are  no  wires 
exposed ;  no  portion  of  the  line  is  alive  except  the  "  head  "  beneath 
the  car,  and  a  block  or  derangement  on  any  portion  of  the  line  does 
not  affect  the  operation  of  the  rest  of  the  line.  The  system  employ- 
ing distributing  stations  located  a  block  apart,  provides  a  means  for 
lighting  the  street  along  the  line  with  electric  lights,  without  having 
exposed  wires  at  any  point.  The  same  motors  and  generators  now 
employed  on  electric  lines  can  be  used  on  this  system,  the  only 
expense  being  the  installation  of  the  underground  wires  and  appa- 
ratus. 

The  test  referred  to,  from  all  accounts,  was  very  successful  and 
made  a  very  favorable  impression.  It  may  be  mentioned  incidentally 
that  Mr.  Woods  is  a  colored  man  of  extraordinary  ability  and  intelli- 
gence. He  was  born  in  Australia,  and  came  to  this  country  when 
very  young.  He  is  the  inventor  of  other  electrical  apparatus  besides 
the  one  referred  to  above,  and  has  received  special  training  in 
electrical  and  mechanical  engineering.  Fig.  89  shows  a  general  view 
of  the  system. 

Electric  Railway  at  Neversink  Mountain,  Reading,  Pa.  —  The 
successful  operation  of  the  electrical  railway  up  the  famous  Never- 
sink Mountain,  near  the  city  of  Reading,  is  another  evidence  of  the 
rapid  progress  which  electricity  is  making  in  the  railway  world. 
Considering  the  physical  conditions,  the  steep  grades  and  the  weight 
of  the  cars  on  this  line,  it  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  electric  railway  plants  in  operation. 

The  railway  line,  starting  from  the  heart  of  the  city,  extends  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  which  it  overlooks,  the  total  length  of  the 
road  being  twelve  miles,  including  the  road  down  the  farther  side. 
The  ascent  from  Reading  is  made  by  a  series  of  curves  and  one 
switch  back.  The  grades  are  as  high  as  6.4  per  cent,  with  scarcely 
a  tangent  on  the  whole  line,  from  the  time  it  leaves  the  city  limits. 

The  road  is  used  entirely  as  a  means  of  reaching  a  number  of 


a 


120 


ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERINU. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS.  121 

different  pleasure  resorts,  and  to  take  advantage  of  the  beautiful 
scenery  which  is  afforded  of  the  valley  and  the  Schuylkill  River, 
which  winds  around  the  foot  of  the  mountain  on  the  western  side. 

The  road  commenced  operation  during  the  summer  of  1890.  It 
is  equipped  throughout  (with  the  exception  of  a  short  space  within 
the  city  limits)  with  fifty-six  pound  "T"  rails.  The  cars  were 
equipped  with  Edison  No.  6  double  reduction  15  h.  p.  street  car 
motors,  each  car  employing  two  motors.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
weight  of  the  cars  when  empty  is  thirteen  tons,  and  that  they  are 
often  called  upon  to  carry  a  load  of  100  passengers  up  the  very  steep 
grades,  it  was  deemed  advisable  in  installing  additional  apparatus 
during  the  present  season,  to  equip  each  of  the  cars  with  two  of  the 
new  25  h.  p.  single  reduction  motors,  which  are  giving  excellent 
results.  The  entire  installation  has  been  made  by  the  Edison  Gen- 
eral Electric  Co.,  who  are  to  be  congratulated  on  the  success 
attained. 

At  present  there  are  in  operation  six  thirty-six  foot  cars,  each 
weighing  about  thirteen  tons.  The  cars  used  are  of  the  Brill  double 
truck  pattern.  The  speed  attained  by  a  loaded  car  while  ascending 
the  6.4  per  cent  grade  is  about  eight  miles  an  hour  and  twelve  miles 
an  hour  on  a  4  per  cent  grade. 

One  of  the  interesting  features  of  this  installation  is  the  absolute 
lack  of  noise  from  the  motors  now  in  operation.  Considering  that 
the  cars  are  exceedingly  heavy  and  the  grades  uncommon,  this 
feature  of  the  road  has  won  much  praise.  Part  of  this  is  undoubt- 
edly due  to  the  special  oil  boxes  used  with  the  gears. 

The  power  station  is  situated  on  the  Schuylkill  River  at  the 
extreme  end  of  the  line.  It  contains  two  Edison  eighty  kilo-watt 
generators,  driven  from  counter-shafting  operated  by  two  turbines. 
The  weight  of  the  cars,  the  type  of  the  rails  and  the  character  of 
the  roadbed  closely  resemble  those  of  a  steam  railway  line,  and 
indicate  that  the  Edison  General  Electric  Co.  do  not  intend  to  limit 
their  operations  to  ordinary  street  car  work. 

The  accompanying  illustration  of  this  railway  conveys  some  idea 


122 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY   ENGINEERING. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIVE  ROADS.  123 

of  the  difificulties  to  be  overcome  on  account  of  the  grades  and 
curves.     (See  Fig.  90.) 

We  give  an  illustration  (see  Fig.  91)  of  one  of  the  six-wheel 
electric  motor  cars  such  as  are  now  used  upon  the  West  End  Rail- 
way of  Boston.  The  view  is  taken  on  the  Tremont  Street  and 
Shawmut  Avenue  line.  It  has  a  seating  capacity  of  sixty  persons. 
This  line  uses  the  Thomson-Houston  system,  and  each  car  is 
equipped  with  two  of  their  new  railway  motors. 

On  page  122  (Fig.  92),  will  be  found  an  illustration  of  Lynn  & 
Boston  Street  Railway  Thomson-Houston  electric  system  in  Lynn. 
The  illustration  shows  a  car  ascending  the  grade  on  Rockaway 
Street,  which  is  a  .very  steep  one.  Cars  are  run  up  this  grade  at  the 
rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour.  Within  the  next  year  nearly  all  of  the 
street  railways  in  Lynn  will  be  operated  with  electricity. 


124  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


SOME  GENERAL  REMARKS  FOR  MOTOR  MEN. 

THE  substitution  of  electricity  for  horses  on  car  lines  has  not 
lessened  the  amount  of  abuse  to  the  motive  power.  The 
motors  are  unfavorably  situated,  being  underneath  the  car  in  the 
dust,  dirt,  mud  and  snow.  It  is  not  many  years  since  a  noted 
electrician  spoke  of  the  commutator  of  a  dynamo  or  motor  as  a 
most  delicate  piece  of  apparatus,  that  must  be  carefully  shielded 
from  all  semblance  of  rough  usage.  If  electrical  engineers  had  not 
triumphed  over  these  difficulties  there  would  not  be  any  electric  cars 
to-day.  Pails  of  water  may  be  poured  over  a  running  motor  without 
inflicting  any  discomfiture.  Still,  like  all  other  machinery,  electric 
motors  have  their  ills  and  need  appropriate  remedies.  When  a 
slight  accident  has  occurred  to  the  mechanism  of  a  car  or  motor, 
motor  men  generally  pay  no  attention  to  it,  and  persist  in  keeping 
the  car  moving,  at  all  hazards.  Then  if  the  motors  absolutely  refuse 
to  move,  the  car  is  made  to  wait  for  another  to  push  it  along,  or  is 
drawn  to  the  power  house  by  horses.  A  better  way  of  treating  the 
same  accident  would  be  for  the  motorneer  or  conductor  understanding 
the  mechanism  to  locate  the  fault  and  make  the  necessary  correction. 
Usually  the  remedies  are  remarkable  for  their  simplicity. 

The  greater  part  of  electric  cars  are  controlled  by  means  of  a 
rheostat,  and  the  explanations  and  suggestions  given  will  first  be  for 
equipments  of  this  kind."  Trouble  for  cars  may  be  located  at  any 
point  from  the  place  of  contact  of  the  trolley  wheel  with  the  over- 
head wire  to  the  rails,  or  even  further,  when  the  car  gets  off  the 
track,  and  we  will  consider  the  whole  subject  in  an  orderly  manner 
suggested  by  the  path  of  the  current. 

If  the  trolley  wheel  sparks  and  flashes,  it  may  be  due,  in  winter 


SOME   GENERAL  REMARKS  FOR  MOTOR  MEN.  125 

time,  to  the  layer  of  ice  that  will  gather  on  the  lower  edge  of  the 
wire.  In  summer,  dirt  and  dust  often  gives  imperfect  contact.  No 
remedies  are  advised  for  such  causes.  Oftener  sparking  is  caused 
by  the  wheel  slipping  and  jumping  on  the  wire,  instead  of  running 
smoothly.  This  is  due  to  lack  of  oil  on  the  wheel  stud.  Graphite 
bushings  are  usually  inserted  in  the  wheel  hub  to  give  self  lubrica- 
tion and  offer  a  fairly  good  path  for  the  current.  This  device  would 
be  perfect,  if  the  dust  and  grit  did  not  interfere.  Some  oil  is 
necessary,  but  it  must  be  used  sparingly,  as  oil  is  an  insulator,  and 
the  path  for  the  current  must  be  kept  from  all  unnecessary  impedi- 
ments. Sometimes,  but  not  frequently,  an  "  open  circuit "  results  in 
the  wire  that  leads  from  the  trolley  base  becoming  detached  from  its 
clamps.  Where  the  same  wire  enters  the  two  main  switches,  a  loose 
connection  may  occur,  which  may  make  a  break  in  the  circuit.  More 
often  the  wires  loosen  under  the  car  floor,  where  the  location  is  not 
so  easily  detected. 

In  the  fuse  box  or  "cut-out"  are  two  thumb  screws  for  holding 
the  fuse.  When  no  current  can  be  made  to  pass  through  the  motors, 
after  completing  the  circuit  in  the  usual  manner  by  the  rheostat, 
always  inspect  the  fuse  box.  The  fuse  may  be  blown,  or  the  screws 
rattled  loose. 

The  lightning  arrester  may  sometimes  get  "  grounded."  After 
disrupting  several  lightning  discharges,  the  parts  are  sometimes  fused 
together,  making  a  ground.  In  this  case  the  ground  wire  may  be 
cut  or  removed  from  its  binding  post.  If  it  seems  likely  that  there 
is  an  open  circuit  in  the  lightning  arrester,  wind  some  wire  around 
the  main  binding  posts  so  as  to  connect  them  together. 

More  trouble  usually  manifests  itself  in  the  rheostat  than  else- 
where. It  is  the  most  convenient  place,  and  repairs  to  this  part  of 
the  equipment  are  not  expensive.  Quite  often  the  rheostat  plays  the 
trick  of  grounding  the  resistance  plates  on  the  iron  containing- 
frame.  In  such  a  case  the  resistance  in  circuit  is  lessened,  some- 
times, there  being  no  resistance  at  all  in  circuit,  and  the  car  will  take 
a  tremendous  jump  on  starting.     At  other  times  the  center  stud  on 


126  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

which  the  contact  arm  turns  gets  grounded  with  the  frame,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  shut  the  current  off  by  turning  the  controlling  crank. 
The  motorneer  should  then  open  and  close  the  circuit  for  starting 
and  stopping  the  car  by  means  of  the  main  switch  located  over  his 
head.  The  rheostat  can  still  be  used  to  govern  the  speed  of  the  car 
if  no  other  ground  exists  between  the  resistance  plates  and  the  frame, 
any  such  contact  will  readily  show  itself  as  a  short  circuit,  accompa- 
nied by  flashing  and  arcing  of  the  current.  In  such  a  case  the 
rheostat  contact  shoe  on  the  movable  arm  should  be  moved  entirely 
over  onto  its  last  contact  (excepting  the  "loop"  contact  which  is 
the  furthest  position).  The  car  can  be  controlled  then  by  means  of 
the  main  switch  only.  Violent  shocks  will  be  imparted  by  the 
motors  as  they  start  from  rest,  under  the  influence  of  the  full  force 
of  the  current.  The  shocks  will  be  severe  to  the  winding  on  the 
armatures,  and  to  the  teeth  of  the  gears ;  this  treatment  should  be 
permitted  long  enough  only  to  get  the  car  to  the  repair  station.  If 
the  motorneer  judges  that  the  teeth  of  the  gears  are  worn  beyond 
the  safe  limit,  it  would  be  more  advisable  for  him  to  await  help  from 
some  other  car.  In  case  it  appears  that  there  is  an  open  circuit 
in  the  car  wiring,  let  the  driver  inspect  the  three  wires  that  connect 
with  the  rheostat ;  a  wire  may  have  jarred  from  its  fastenings. 

The  path  of  the  current  beyond  the  rheostat  is  divided,  half  the 
current  going  to  each  motor.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the 
two  motors  are  in  multiple,  that  is,  each  one  gets  its  current  inde- 
pendent of  any  connection  with  the  other.  This  is  an  essential 
feature,  as  it  allows  the  car  to  be  driven  by  one  motor  alone,  if  the 
other  is  disabled.  If  the  motors  were  in  series,  and  one  should  be 
cut  out,  the  other  would  receive  twice  its  proper  potential. 

The  two  field  spools  on  each  motor  are  usually  in  multiple ;  this 
allows  finer  wire  to  be  used,  and  consequently  more  compact  wind- 
ing than  if  the  entire  current  passed  through  each  spool.  A  more 
important  reason  is  that  if  a  spool  "burns  out,"  it  can  simply  be 
disconnected  from  the  circuit,  and  the  motor  will  run,  though  on 
account  of  its  weaker  field,  more  current  should  not  be  used  as  it 


SOME   GENERAL  REMARKS  FOR  MOTOR  MEN.  127 

would  be  absorbed  and  the  remaining  spool  would  be  unduly  heated. 
The  current  should  be  shut  off  from  the  motors  when  the  car  is 
running  through  puddles,  as  the  continual  splashing  of  water  over 
the  dampened  connection  boards  often  short-circuits  a  spool. 

There  are  three  cables  connecting  with  each  spool,  two  each  for 
the  "full  field"  when  all  the  winding  is  in  the  circuit,  the  third  lead- 
ing to  the  very  last  contact  plate  of  the  rheostat  and  cutting  out 
that  part  of  the  field  winding  called  the  "loop."  The  original 
function  of  the  loop  was  to  reduce  the  field  magnetism  to  allow  the 
motors  to  attain  high  speeds  when  there  was  almost  no  load.  One 
of  the  conditions  of  non-sparking  at  the  brushes  is  an  intense  field 
magnetism.  When  the  loop  is  cut  out  the  magnetism  decreases, 
the  current  increases,  and  the  chances  for  non-sparking  are  very 
unfavorable.  Motorneers  usually  run  their  cars  up  grades  and  hills 
on  the  "  loop "  contact,  but  while  the  speed  is  slightly  increased, 
there  is  about  three  times  as  much  current  absorbed  as  if  the  full 
field  were  in  circuit.  Unless  a  car  is  behind  time,  the  loop  should 
be  used  on  level  tracks  only. 

After  the  field  spools,  come  the  reversing  switches.  Street 
car  motors  are  always  series  wound  ;  hence  reversing  the  current 
before  it  reaches  the  motors,  would  cause  no  reversal  of  direction  of 
rotation.  The  switches  must  be  placed  between  the  field  coils  and 
the  armature.  The  armature  circuit  is  reversed,  while  the  field 
remains  always  magnetized  in  the  same  direction.  The  armature 
could  be  made  the  permanent  member,  and  the  fields  reversed,  but 
on  account  of  the  loop  contacts,  the  connections  would  not  be  so 
simple. 

There  are  times,  as  in  danger  of  a  collision,  etc ,  when  a  car  needs 
to  be  stopped  as  quickly  as  possible.  If  the  shutting  off  of  the 
current  and  the  application  of  the  brakes  will  not  do  this  soon 
enough,  the  reversing  switch  may  be  thrown  over  and  the  rheostat 
circuit  as  slowly  completed  as  in  starting  a  car.  This  means  of  stop- 
ping the  car  should  only  be  in  extreme  cases,  as  the  shock  to  both 
winding  and  gears  will  be  severe,  and   even   dangerous.     Do  not 


128  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

throw  the  reversing  switch  when  the  current  is  on.  The  arcing  at 
the  switch  contacts  would  be  liable  to  work  damage,  the  excessive 
current  might  burn  out  the  motors ;  at  least  the  fuse  would  be 
blown,  leaving  the  current  wholly  shut  ofif  from  the  car  when  most 
needed. 

The  armatures  of  the  motors  are  next  in  circuit.  A  variety  of 
troubles  may  occur  in  them.  If  a  short  circuit  takes  place,  the 
smoke  and  fire  will  leave  no  doubt  in  one's  mind  that  the  motor  is 
useless.  It  should  be  disconnected  from  circuit.  This  can  easily 
be  done  by  removing  the  brushes.  Sometimes  a  ground  is  made  and 
the  driver  cannot  tell  in  which  motor  the  trouble  is  situated.  In  this 
case,  set  the  brakes  and  take  out  the  brushes  from  one  motor  and  let 
on  the  current  gradually.  If  the  fuse  does  not  blow,  the  proper  motor 
has  been  removed  from  circuit.  If  the  fuse  does  blow,  replace  the 
brushes  in  the  first  motor,  and  remove  them  from  the  other,  and  the 
car  can  usually  be  driven  by  the  first  motor. 

There  is  occasionally  trouble  at  the  commutator ;  the  brushes 
spark  badly.  Before  concluding  that  they  are  not  set  rightly,  as 
regards  the  neutral  point,  clean  off  the  dirt  and  carbon  dust.  Make 
an  examination  of  the  brushes  ;  see  if  they  are  not  too  much  worn, 
see  if  they  are  worn  cornerwise,  if  so,  put  them  in  with  the  other  end 
in  contact.  The  copper  plating  will  do  less  damage  than  the  sparks. 
Often  the  carbon  is  not  pressed  against  the  commutator  hard  enough, 
the  pressure  springs  may  be  broken  or  extended,  this  may  be  caused  ' 
by  the  current  taking  the  temper  out  of  them.  A  block  of  wood 
under  the  presser  will  usually  remedy  this  trouble  temporarily  by 
holding  the  carbon  down  and  removing  the  springs  from  the  circuit. 
An  uneven  commutator  is  the  source  of  a  great  deal  of  sparking. 
Turning  down  a  lathe  until  smooth  is  the  proper  remedy  for  this 
contingency. 

Loose  or  broken  connections  between  the  armature  coils  and  the 
commutator  segments  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  When  the 
brushes  touch  the  disconnected  segment,  a  serious  flash  follows  the 
break  of  the  circuit.     If  the  wire  leading  to  the  segment  has  been 


SOME   GENERAL   REMARKS  FOR  MOTOR  MEN.  129 

broken  off  short,  it  may  have  broken  the  continuity  of  the  armature 
circuit ;  in  this  case  the  armature  will  either  turn  weakly  or  not  turn 
at  all.  When  a  broken  connection  of  either  coil  is  discovered,  the 
motor  should  be  removed  from  the  circuit  by  taking  out  the  brushes 
The  commutator  should  be  kept  clean.  Carbon  dust  makes  a  good 
path  for  the  current,  and  any  tendency  to  arcing  around  from  one 
brush  to  the  other  may  generally  be  traced  to  dirt.  The  neutral 
point  on  which  the  brushes  should  be  set  to  avoid  sparking,  is,  at 
best,  found  within  narrow  limits.  The  location  of  the  yoke  that 
supports  the  brush  holders  should  not  be  changed  from  the  marked 
position,  without  due  care.  The  motors  should  be  run  at  highest 
speed,  the  car  stopped  and  the  position  of  the  yoke  marked,  then 
reverse  the  current,  and  run  at  full  speed  in  the  opposite  direction  ; 
if  there  is  sparking  in  one  case  more  than  in  the  other,  the  position 
of  the  yoke  may  be  changed,  perhaps  -^  or  ^^  of  an  inch.  The 
direction  and  amount  of  movement  should  be  determined  by  running 
the  car  back  and  forth,  if  possible,  up  and  down  hill.  The  shifting 
of  the  brushes  in  this  manner  should  be  done  as  a  last  resort,  as 
often  the  sparking  is  due  to  the  other  causes  that  have  been 
mentioned. 

Sometimes  the  copper  plating  on  the  carbon  brushes  peels  off  and 
a  corner  or  edge  scrapes  on  the  commutator,  causing  bad  scoring  and 
sparking.  In  this  case  strip  the  refractory  piece  of  plating  com- 
pletely off. 

The  current  passes  from  the  armature  back  to  the  reversing 
switch,  then  to  the  iron  frame  of  the  motor  which  constitutes  a 
"ground."  If  this  ground  connection  loosens,  an  open  circuit  will 
result.  The  reversing  switch  should  be  examined  occasionally  to  see 
if  the  contacts  are  good.  Sometimes  the  jarring  of  the  car  rattles 
the  switth  blades  out  of  contact,  or  so  that  there  is  "arcing"  which 
quickly  destroys  the  parts.  The  current  may  seem  to  come  by  fits 
and  starts,  causing  severe  jerking  of  the  car.  The  icy  condition  of 
the  track  in  winter  will  very  often  cause  this  trouble.  In  dry 
summer  weather  the  dust  on  the  rails  may  cause  the  same  trouble. 


130  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

Sometimes  a  car  may  be  completely  insulated  from  the  rails.  In 
this  case  the  driver  should  not  try  to  run  the  car  on  the  "loop" 
circuit  unless  the  car  is  behind  time. 

Cars  should  not  be  run  for  any  length  of  time  at  slow  speed,  as 
the  rheostat  heats  seriously,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  motors  is 
reduced.  The  same  time  can  be  made  with  greater  economy  by 
letting  the  car  run  on  its  own  momentum  until  the  speed  is  slow, 
then  speeding  up,  and  again  running  by  momentum,  repeating  this 
process  as  long  as  necessary. 

All  sorts  of  apparatus  has  been  devised  to  obviate  the  use  of 
rheostats  on  street  cars.  Many  such  contrivances  work  well  during 
experiments,  but  cannot  withstand  the  abuse  of  continuous  service. 
Such  arrangements  usually  make  various  combinations  of  the  field 
magnet  windings  of  each  motor  separately,  and  also  of  the  motors 
as  a  whole.  The  fields  are  sometimes  wound  in  three  sections  each, 
and  some  of  the  time  these  are  in  series,  at  other  times  in  multiple. 
In  some  cases  the  ordinary  resistance  of  the  spools  in  series  is  not 
sufficient,  and  one  or  two  sections  are  wound  with  German  silver 
wire.  This  is  an  unwise  method,  as  the  heating  of  the  fields  is 
thereby  increased  and  the  efficiency  of  the  motor  reduced.  It  is 
better  to  have  a  small  independent  resistance  to  be  in  circuit  only 
occasionally, — just  when  the  car  is  started. 

The  Thomson-Houston  Company  has  just  perfected  a  controller 
which  allows  six  combinations,  as  follows : 

I  St.     Both  motors  in  series  plus  5  ohms  resistance. 

2d,      Both  motors  in  series,  resistance  cutout. 

3d.      No.  I  combination  repeated. 

4th.    One  motor  cutout  of  circuit. 

5th.    Both  motors  in  multiple  with  full  field. 

6th.    Both  motors  in  multiple  with  portion  of  field  shunted. 

The  constructions  of  such  controlling  devices  is  attended  with 

many  difficulties.     The  change  of   combinations  must  be  made  at 

,  times  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  avoid  sparking  at  the  contacts. 

Where  sparking  occurs  blow-out  magnets  are  used  and  are  to  some 


SOME   GENERAL   REMARKS  FOR  MOTOR  MEN.  \%\ 

extent  successful.  If  excessive  sparking  occurs,  the  driver  should 
examine  the  magnets  to  see  if  they  are  still  in  circuit  when  the 
contacts  over  them  are  made. 

Greater  care  on  the  part  of  a  motorneer  is  necessary  with  a  "  con- 
troller "  than  with  a  rheostat  regulation.  The  marks  on  the  dial  to 
which  the  handle  bar  must  be  moved  should  be  carefully  noticed,  or 
contacts  will  be  imperfectly  made  and  arcing  and  burning  will  result. 
Sometimes  spring-catches  are  provided  for  holding  the  bar  of  the 
handle  in  the  right  location.  As  there  are  more  wires  running  to 
the  controller  box  than  to  a  rheostat,  the  dangers  of  loose  connec- 
tions and  breaks  are  increased.  All  the  cables  and  bindings  posts 
are  usually  marked  i,  2,  3,  etc.,  or  A.  B.  C.  etc.,  so  that  they  can  be 
coupled  in  their  proper  order. 


132  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


SOME    GENERAL    REMARKS    FOR    STATION    MEN. 

A  SUBSTANTIAL  and  well  cared  for  power  station  is  a  necessity 
to  the  success  of  any  electric  railway  system.  In  our  observa- 
tion, as  a  rule,  most  stations  are  well  kept  and  usually  present  a 
scrupulously  neat  appearance.  Cleanliness  is  of  great  importance; 
much  trouble  is  caused  by  its  neglect.  To  keep  everything  dry  is 
another  rule  to  observe,  as  dampness  very  often  causes  grounds.  All 
of  the  insulation  upon  wires,  etc.,  about  the  station  should  be  care- 
fully looked  after  every  day.  (This  may  prevent  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.)  "  Want  of  care  often  causes  as  much  trouble  as  want  of 
knowledge,"  and  if  station  men  will  bear  this  in  mind,  and  heed  it, 
they  may  save  themselves  many  inconveniences  and  accidents. 

A  dynamo  should  be  firmly  set  upon  a  solid  foundation.  If  the 
foundation  is  poor,  the  vibration  caused  by  the  rotation  of  the  arma- 
ture may  damage  a  dynamo  in  many  ways.  The  iron  base  of  a 
dynamo  should  be  properly  insulated  from  the  foundation  to  prevent 
a  ground.  A  dynamo  should  always  be  located  in  a  dry  place.  All 
contacts  and  binding  posts  about  the  electrical  apparatus  of  a  power 
station  should  be  examined,  and  if  necessary  be  tightened  every  day. 
Fuses  should  also  be  looked  after.  A  brush  should  never  be  lifted 
from  the  commutator  while  the  dynamo  is  running,  as  it  will  cause  an 
arc  and  make  a  bad  spot  upon  the  commutator.  Only  gentle 
pressure  of  the  brushes  upon  the  commutator  is  required.  The 
brush  holder  springs  should  allow  a  certain  amount  of  flexibility  in 
order  to  prevent  sparking  of  the  brushes  at  the  commutator. 

The  commutator  is  one  of  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  a  dynamo. 
It  should  always  be  kept  smooth.  When  a  commutator  gets  rough 
from  sparking  of  the  brushes,  it  may  be  made  smooth  by  the  use  of 


SOME   GENERAL   REMARKS  FOR  STATION  MEN.  133 

emery  cloth.  Fine  sandpaper  may  be  wrapped  around  a  block 
of  wood  and  pressed  against  the  commutator,  taking  care  to  raise 
the  brushes  before  the  operation.  It  should  never  be  done  while  the 
dynamo  is  at  work.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to  clean  off  any 
emery  dust  that  may  remain  upon  the  commutator,  brushes,  or  shaft, 
as  it  will  cut  the  surface  of  them  for  a  long  time  and  might  cause 
serious  damage. 

For  spots  and  grooves  on  the  commutator  there  is  no  remedy  but 
turning  in  a  lathe.  Files  should  not  be  used  ;  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  produce  a  true  cylinder  with  them.  Much  sparking  at  the  com- 
mutator is  generally  a  sign  of  overloading,  or  a  short  circuit  in  the 
armature  coils.  Keep  iron  and  steel  tools  away  from  the  dynamo, 
and  never  file  near  it.  Use  brass  or  zinc  oil  cans  for  lubricating,  do 
not  spill  oil  or  water  upon  a  dynamo,  and  have  shields  to  prevent 
adjacent  machinery  from  spattering  oil  upon  it.  Have  a  pair  of 
bellows  to  blow  the  dust  from  the  commutator  and  armature  coils  of 
the  machine. 

Oil  is  an  insulator,  therefore  very  little  of  it  should  be  used  upon 
the  commutator,  a  few  drops  rubbed  on  with  the  hand  is  sufficient. 
When  it  becomes  necessary  to  replace  an  old  commutator  by  a  new 
one,  it  may  be  done  in  the  following  manner:  Carefully  remove  the 
armature  from  the  dynamo  and  place  it  upon  two  wooden  horses. 
Attach  tags  to  the  wires  leading  from  the  armature  to  the  commu- 
tator, and  mark  them  with  numbers  to  make  sure  of  the  proper  place 
of  each  wire  to  the  corresponding  bars  of  the  commutator,  discon- 
tinue the  wires  from  the  commutator  by  unscrewing  the  set  screw, 
or  where  they  are  soldered  by  unsoldering  them  by  means  of  acid 
and  a  hot  soldering  iron,  taking  care  not  to  short  circuit  any  parts 
of  the  commutator  with  any  of  the  molten  solder.  Take  the  old 
commutator  off,  which  is  quite  a  difficult  piece  of  work,  clean  the 
shaft  and  connections  and  put  the  new  commutator  carefully  into 
position  and  connect  the  wires  in  proper  turn  with  the  corresponding 
copper  bars  of  the  commutator  by  the  set  screws  or  by  soldering 
with  hard  solder. 


134  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

If  a  dynamo  refuses  to  work  or  the  potential  drops,  see  if  your 
connections  are  right.  For  the  sake  of  personal  safety  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  wear  rubber  boots  and  thick  rubber  gloves  when  at  work 
around  a  running  dynamo.  Rubber  covers  are  now  made  for  the 
handles  of  all  iron  and  steel  tools  which  every  electrician  should  use. 
Keep  the  current  indicator  free  from  dust.  If  dust  or  dirt  collects 
in  jewel  bearings  the  needle  will  act  sluggishly.  See  that  the  jewels 
in  the  current  indicator  are  not  cracked  or  that  the  screws  that  hold 
the  bearings  do  not  get  loose,  for  should  this  happen  the  needle  will 
drop  down  from  its  bearings  and  refuse  to  register. 

See  that  binding  posts  and  all  connections  are  kept  perfectly  tight, 
insuring  good  contacts  of  the  instruments  upon  the  switch-board. 
When  placing  voltmeter  in  position  to  take  reading,  be  sure  that  it 
is  on  a  level.  When  not  on  a  level  the  needle  will  act  sluggishly. 
A  good  plan  when  needle  does  not  work  freely,  is  to  give  the  volt- 
meter a  slight  blow  on  its  side  with  the  hand. 

When  setting  up  an  ammeter  in  the  circuit,  it  is  highly  important 
to  have  it  perfectly  level  and  secure  it  firmly  to  the  switch-board  so 
that  it  will  not  easily  be  moved  out  of  position.  It  should  be  placed 
far  enough  away  from  the  dynamos  so  that  the  needle  will  not  be 
effected  by  the  magnetism  from  them.  An  ammeter  that  is  not 
level  will  not  register  properly.  It  is  important  that  the  contacts  of 
the  ammeter  should  be  kept  tight,  as  a  loose  contact  will  cause  it  to 
heat  and  endanger  burning  out  of  its  coils. 

Never  pound  screws  into  a  switch-board,  always  start  them  by  first 
boring  holes.  Pounding  around  a  switch-board  is  liable  to  do  much 
damage  to  the  instruments  upon  it. 

The  jaws  of  a  lightning  arrester  must  be  kept  clean  and  their 
proper  distance  maintained  from  each  other.  They  should  be  in- 
spected every  day. 


CONCLUSION.  136 


CHAPTER   XV. 


CONCLUSION. 


WE  have  shown  in  the  preceding  chapters  that  the  trolley  sys- 
tem is  the  only  one  in  practical  use  at  the  present  time.  It 
is  a  system  comprehending  many  parts,  each  of  which  are  essential 
to  its  completeness. 

The  power  house  and  its  apparatus,  the  motors,  the  line  construc- 
tion, etc.,  have  all  been  described. 

The  development  of  this  system  was  not  the  result  of  a  few  dis- 
connected experiments,  but  of  much  study  and  thought,  extending 
through  a  series  of  years. 

The  Conduit  system,  the  Double  Trolley,  the  Storage  and  Battery 
system  have  all  been  tried,  and  with  one  or  two  exceptions  have  been 
abandoned.  We  do  not  know  of  a  single  conduit  system  in  opera- 
tion in  the  United  States  today,  and  of  only  two  double  trolley  sys- 
tems, (one  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  one  in  Camden,  Pa.)  Several 
Storage  Battery  systems  are  being  experimented  with,  but  the 
chances  of  success  are  against  them.  They  require  the  constant 
attention  of  electricians  to  keep  them  in  running  order  and  may  be 
so  far  considered  commercial  failures. 

One  of  the  best  examples  of  the  successful  operation  of  the  single 
trolley  system  is  found  in  the  History  of  the  Construction  and 
Working  of  the  West  End  Railway  of  Boston,  Mass.,  as  given  by 
Louis  P.  Hager,  and  published  by  him  in  1892.  Their  main  power 
station  is  the  largest  in  the  world.  The  boiler  house  covers  a  space 
of  161  feet  long,  by  85  feet,  10  inches  wide.  The  boilers  are  arranged 
in  twelve  batteries,  six  on  each  side  of  the  boiler  room.  Each  bat- 
tery consists  of  two  boilers,  which  are  of  the  Babcock  &  Wilcox 


136  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

water-tube  type.  The  twenty-four  boilers  are  capable  of  supplying 
steam  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  24,000  horse-power. 

The  mammoth  Reynolds  &  Corliss  engines  were  built  by  the 
Edward  P.  AUis  Company  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.  The  fly  wheel  is  28 
feet  in  diameter,  10  feet,  7  inches  face,  and  weighs  80  tons.  It  is 
double-crowned  and  carries  two  double  ply  belts,  each  54  inches 
wide  and  1 50  feet  long,  to  drive  the  counter  shafting.  The  dynamos 
which  generate  the  current  are  118  in  number  and  have  an  aggre- 
gate capacity  of  15,260  horse-power.  The  West  End  Railway  Com- 
pany also  have  power  houses  in  AUston  and  Cambridge. 

*  "  The  cars  of  the  West  End  Railway  Company  at  the  present  time 
number  2,131,  all  told,  of  which,  according  to  the  fourth  annual 
report  of  the  company,  1,662  are  horse-cars,  and  469  electric.  As 
the  electric  cars  are  capable  of  accommodating,  at  a  safe  estimate, 
one-third  more  passengers  than  the  horse-cars,  when  the  electrical 
system  is  fully  established  on  the  entire  lines  operated  by  the  com- 
pany, the  number  of  vehicles  will  be  reduced  in  that  proportion,  thus 
affording  a  great  relief  in  the  matter  of  blockades,  and  consequently 
more  rapid  transportation  to  all  points  in  and  out  of  the  city. 

Although  but  a  trifle  over  81  miles  of  the  260  operated  by  the 
West  P^nd  Company  are  equipped  with  the  electrical  system,  some 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  aggregate  benefits  which  will  result  from 
its  completion,  from  the  fact  that  suburban  property  has  already 
in  many  places  appreciated  over  100  per  cent  in  the  districts 
reached  by  the  electric  lines,  and  the  people  are  so  gratified  with  the 
change  from  horse-cars  as  to  be  unstinted  in  their  praise  of  the 
almost  magical  transformation  it  has  wrought. 

The  electric  cars  are  beautiful  specimens  of  the  car  builder's  art ; 
commodious  in  seating  capacity;  comfortable,  not  to  say  elegant,  in 
upholstery ;  finely  decorated  inside  and  outside,  and  they  certainly 
present  a  most  imposing  appearance,  traversing  the  streets  with  the 
mysterious  force  which  the  Thomson-Houston  Electrical  Company 
has  so  successfully  supplied  in  the  over-head  system  of  electrical 
propulsion." 

•  Histon-  of  the  West  End  Railway,  by  Louis  P.  Hager. 


CONCLUS/ON.  137 

As  was  said  before,  all  this  was  not  accomplished  in  an  instant, 
nor  was  it  accomplished  without  many  difficulties  and  objections. 
The  public  were  naturally  afraid  of  electricity,  nor  is  this  fear  wholly 
dispelled  today.  Speaking  of  the  danger  of  electricity,  Prof.  Elihu 
Thomson  says : 

''The  growth  of  electric  railways  has  undoubtedly  been  very 
rapid  of  late,  and  as  you  have  heard  stated  here,  there  are  something 
like  fifty  roads  in  operation  at  the  present  time  (March,  1889).  The 
experience  of  these  roads  has  dated  back  several  years.  Some  of 
them,  no  doubt,  were  crudely  arranged  at  first,  but  the  whole  matter 
is  becoming  rapidly  systematized  and  taking  very  much  better  shape. 
In  order  to  convey  electricity  any  considerable  distance  it  is  neces- 
sary that  we  provide  conductors  to  convey  the  current.  We  must 
also  use  a  certain  pressure  on  the  current,  or  the  electricity  will  fail 
to  be  carried.  In  arc  lighting  this  pressure  rises  to  as  high  a  point 
sometimes  as  3,000  volts,  and  yet  I  have  known  men  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  such  wires,  getting  the  full  strength,  and  not  be  killed. 
There  are  a  few  other  cases  where  people  have  met  with  fatal  acci- 
dents by  putting  their  hands  on  wires  with  a  current  of  from  2,000 
to  3,000  volts.  By  common  consent,  however,  the  electrical  frater- 
nity have  dropped  down  to  a  voltage  as  low  as  500  volts.  That  is 
the  voltage  which  is  now  used  on  electric  railways.  The  object  of 
dropping  the  voltage  is  to  get  two  things ;  that  is,  to  secure  safety, 
and  at  the  same  time  secure  freedom  from  the  tendency  of  the  cur- 
rent to  leave  the  wire,  either  on  the  car  or  anywhere  else.  The 
desire  is,  of  course,  to  keep  that  pressure  which  will  transmit  the 
current  over  the  line.  We  could  operate  the  roads  with  1,500  to 
2,000  volts,  but  that  is  not  feasible  or  advisable  ;  we  would  find  more 
difficulties  in  the  construction  of  our  motors.  We  are  forced  to  keep 
the  current  down  in  pressure.  A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  the 
volume  of  the  current  existing  on  these  lines.  I  say  that  it  has 
nothing  to  do  with  it  whatever.  The  volume  of  the  current  is  noth- 
ing ;  it  is  merely  the  pressure  which  is  to  be  taken  into  account ;  and 
this  whole   question    hinges   on  whether  500  volts  is  a  dangerous 


138  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

pressure  or  not.  Now,  it  is  a  fact,  as  I  am  told,  that  the  Western 
Union  Company  use  on  some  of  their  lines  in  New  York  city  more 
than  400  volts;  they  use  dynamos  for  working  long  lines.  I  have 
heard  of  various  instances  where  the  leakage  in  bad  weather  has 
been  so  strong  that  the  instruments  were  overcharged  and  the 
operators  could  not  even  adjust  their  instruments  with  the  pressure 
being  as  great  as  that.  They  use  the  dynamos  to  replace  a  certain 
number  of  battery  cells.  The  number  which  they  would  replace  of 
the  Gove  type,  taken  as  an  example,  would  be  about  240  battery 
cells.  It  does  not  seem  to  them  that  that  voltage  has  any  particular 
danger  in  it. 

"They  have  substituted  dynamos  having  a  current  of  large  capacity 
in  place  of  their  batteries,  and  still  they  find  no  difficulties  with  it. 
The  pressure  is  not  high  enough  to  do  any  harm  to  the  person.  It 
is  true  that  it  is  a  pressure  which  will  give  a  shock.  Nobody  denies 
that.  Almost  any  pressure  will  give  a  shock,  but  the  question  here 
is  whether  it  is  capable  of  giving  a  fatal  shock.  I  do  not  think  any 
evidence  has  been  produced  here  which  shows  that  it  can  produce  a 
fatal  shock,  or  has  produced  a  fatal  shock,  which  is  the  important 
point.  There  are  fifty  roads  in  operation.  We  are  prepared  to  pro- 
duce testimony  in  regard  to  persons  who  have  come  in  contact  with 
a  current  and  have  not  been  injured  more  than  to  get  an  electric 
shock.  I  have  occasionally  touched  conductors  of  very  much  higher 
voltage  than  these.  I  at  one  time  caught  hold  of  a  conductor  having 
a  voltage  of  10,000  volts  for  a  few  moments.  I  got  a  very  severe 
shock,  but  it  did  not  kill  me.  On  one  occasion  I  caught  hold  of  an 
alternating  current  of  1,000,  which  you  have  spoken  of  as  an  exceed- 
ingly dangerous  current,  and  that  did  not  kill  me.  I  do  not  say  that 
I  would  voluntarily  take  hold  of  one  of  these  conductors  and  take 
that  shock,  any  more  than  I  would  go  and  have  a  tooth  extracted 
without  any  reason  for  it.  But  I  do  say  that  the  escapes  from 
serious  injury  from  much  higher  voltages  than  i ,000  volts  are  fre- 
quent. The  voltage  which  is  now  used  on  electric  railways  has  been 
reduced  to  that   which   has   been  agreed  upon  as  the  practical  pres- 


CONCLUSION.  139 

sure  to  use,  involving  safety  and  efficiency  throughout  the  whole 
system. 

"A  good  many  points  have  been  brought  up  here  which  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  touch  upon  but  I  am  impressed  with  their  con- 
tradictory character  in  many  cases.  Sometimes  we  hear  of  the 
impossibility  of  touching  the  wires  and  of  the  impossibility  of  firemen 
cutting  the  wires,  because  they  are  dangerous.  We  hear  the  state- 
ment made  that  firemen  will  receive  shocks.  All  they  have  got  to  do 
is  simply  to  have  nippers  with  a  wooden  handle.  They  can  cut  any 
wire  without  any  trouble.  The  wires  can  be  cut  very  nicely  by  an 
ordinary  pair  of  pliers  without  any  danger  whatever.  I  can  say  that 
there  is  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  removing  all  the  wires  in  a  very 
short  time,  if  you  choose,  without  any  danger  to  people  standing  by. 

"The  danger  to  persons  is  absolutely  nil.  The  conductor  comes 
up  from  the  top  of  the  car  and  is  heavily  insulated.  That  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  have  it  stand  moisture.  It  would  give  out  at  once  if 
we  did  not  have  the  circuit  on  the  car  thoroughly  insulated,  covered 
in  as  fully  as  possible,  to  prevent  it  from  coming  in  contact  with  the 
car  track  itself.  In  fact,  a  car  body  is  constructed  of  material  which 
will  not  convey  a  current  of  500  volts  at  all.  As  to  the  danger  to 
watches,  although  I  have  not  heard  any  complaints  of  any  trouble  of 
that  kind,  I  should  say  that  there  might  be  some  little  effect  on 
watches  not  made  non-magnetical ;  but  the  great  watch  firms  now-a- 
days  are  making  watches  which  will  get  over  that  difficulty.  In 
fact,  it  is  being  regarded  as  essential  that  a  man  must  be  equipped 
with  a  non-magnetic  watch  in  these  days  of  electrical  growth.  I 
have  in  my  pocket  a  time-piece  of  that  character,  which  I  can  put  in 
a  dynamo  with  the  strongest  possible  magnetic  field  and  it  will  not 
affect  its  running  at  all." 

In  answer  to  the  question  by  the  legislative  committee,  of  how  the 
10,000  volt  current  was  taken  by  him,  he  replied : 

"  It  was  taken  from  an  alternating  machine  working  the  primary 
of  an  induction  coil  and  the  secondary  of  the  induction  coil  was  taken 
into  my  hands  by  accident,  and  I  got  the  full  strength.     The  proba- 


140  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

ble  reason  I  survived  was  that  I  jumped  away  quickly.  I  said, 
"  Here,  you  jump  out  of  this,  or  you  are  dead."  I  knew  10,000  volts 
would  kill  me.  It  was  capable  of  leaping  from  one  wire  to  another, 
and  at  a  distance  of  three-eighths  of  an  inch,  and  without  first  contact- 
ing them.  I  got  hold  of  the  wires,  and  took  the  current  in  my  body. 
The  volume  I  had  at  that  time,  I  was  satisfied,  was  sufficient  to  kill 
me.  But  there  was  an  enormous  pressure,  10,000  volts  ;  it  had  the 
power  to  jump  through  the  air,  and  I  got  the  full  etfect  turned  both 
ways.  It  went  through  me  both  ways  fifty  times  a  second,  this  way 
and  that  way,  and  the  only  effect  I  felt  was  that  my  arms  were 
numb  when  I  got  away." 

The  Professor  was  then  asked  what  would  have  been  the  effect 
had  the  current  been  50  or  100  amperes,  and  he  said  he  had  never 
heard  of  such  a  case.  He  believed  that  a  man  receiving  such  a 
charge  "  would  be  instantly  vaporized — would  disappear  in  smoke. 
But  10,000  volts  would  not  do  that.  It  would  require  a  lightning 
discharge.  Cases  have  been  reported,"  the  Professor  continued, 
"where  men  have  been  struck  with  lightning  where  they  have  been 
found  considerably  burnt  by  a  very  heavy  lightning  discharge  pass- 
ing directly  through  them,  an  amount  made  up  of  so  much  horse- 
power, so  that  it  practically  disorganizes  and  vaporizes  the  whole 
structure.  A  tree  may  be  struck  by  lightning,  and  every  particle  of 
moisture  in  it  may  be  vaporized  in  an  instant,  and  the  tree  be 
exploded  in  every  direction,  but  I  never  knew  of  a  case  of  that  kind 
in  a  man.  We  are  getting  beyond  any  ordinary  voltage  produced  by 
any  apparatus  at  our  disposal  that  could  produce  an  effect  like  that." 

In  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  electrical  system  in  thunder  storms, 
Professor  Thomson  stated  what  nearly  every  one  has  observed,  "  that 
as  the  number  of  electric  wires  increase  in  a  city  there  is  less  trouble 
from  thunder  storms.  That  is,  there  are  so  many  points  of  escape 
for  lightning  discharges  that  very  few  places  in  cities  are  struck  and 
injured  during  a  thunder  storm.  In  the  country,  in  a  suburban 
district,  a  wire  of  course,  might  be  struck,  but  look  at  the  chances  of 
its  going  to  the  ground !     It  is  only  insulated  by  a  little  porcelain 


CONCLUSION.  141 

knob  from  the  side  wires,  which  are  often  connected  by  a  most  com- 
plete circuit  with  the  ground,  and  we  also  provide  lightning  arresters, 
putting  them  along  the  line  as  often  as  they  may  be  needed,  for 
carrying  off  any  charge  which  could  jump  more  than  one-sixteenth 
of  an  inch.  Lightning  will  jump  a  mile  in  many  discharges.  I 
would  put  a  line  of  lightning  arresters  along  the  road  which  would 
carry  off  any  current  that  can  jump  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch,  to  the 
ground.  Is  not  that  sufficient  protection  .''  The  fact  is,  if  the  light- 
ning ever  strikes  a  line  it  will  find  a  number  of  points  of  escape,  and 
will  not  affect  the  car,  or  go  through  the  car;  it  will  jump  at  once  at 
the  lightning  arrester." 

"Does  it  not  happen  in  some  cases  that  lightning  flies  along  the 
overhead  conductor,  and  is  grounded  without  passing  through  the 
lightning  arrester  \ "  was  asked ;  to  which  the  Professor  replied : 
"I  should  say  some  would  pass  through  the  motors,  and  in  other 
cases  the  trolley  wires  would  act  as  a  first-class  lightning  rod  to  any 
person  in  the  car.  It  would  follow  the  conductor,  which  is  able  to 
carry  an  enormous  current,  and  would  go  to  the  ground  without 
entering  the  car  at  all.  In  other  words,  a  man  on  a  locomotive,  with 
metal  around  him,  carrying  a  circuit  from  the  top  of  the  cab  to  one 
below,  is  not  going  to  be  struck  with  lightning  at  any  time,  and  that 
is  the  condition  in  all  these  cases." 

To  the  question,  "  In  case  of  a  very  heavy  lightning  discharge, 
wouldn't  it  fuse  the  motor  wires  .-'"  answer  was  made  that  it  would 
not.  "It  would  simply  jump  when  it  got  near  the  ground.  Light- 
ning doesn't  have  time  to  fuse  that  motor  wire.  It  jumps  to  the 
ground  when  it  is  near  the  ground.  It  passes  through  the  circuit  of 
least  resistance — the  least  inductive  resistance,  not  the  least  elec- 
trical resistance.  In  other  words,  I  must  explain  that  a  little  further. 
Lightning  acts  differently  from  the  ordinary  electrical  current.  The 
lightning  is  discharged  with  great  suddenness.  Now,  if  I  try  to  make 
it  pass  through  a  coil  of  wire,  it  will  jump  across  a  space  in  the  air, 
rather  than  go  through  that  coil  of  wire,  which  would  be  700  or  800 
feet  in  length ;  it  would  rather  jump  this  space  in  the  air  and  go  to 


142  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

the  ground  that  way.  Suppose  it  comes  down  from  the  overhead 
wire,  and  finds  the  coils  of  the  motor  altogether  too  long  for  it,  it 
would  take  the  next  nearest  iron  post,  the  nearest  metal  post,  which 
is  only  probably  a  quarter  of  an  inch  away  at  any  point,  and  will  go 
to  the  track  that  way.  In  other  words,  it  will  shunt  the  motor,  and 
we  put  on  devices  for  that  very  purpose,  to  prevent  injury  to  the 
motor.  We  put  on  a  little  jumping  space,  so  that  the  lightning  can 
jump  that  space  and  not  damage  the  motor,  because  it  may  tear 
through  some  part  of  the  insulated  motor,  and  we  therefore  make  a 
point  for  it  to  reach  the  ground  easily." 

An  illustration  of  the  safety  of  the  overhead  wires  may  be  observed 
in  the  evidence  of  Josiah  Q.  Bennett,  President  of  the  Cambridge 
Electric  Light  Company.     We  quote  from  him  as  follows  : 

"  We  have  never  had  a  claim  made  against  our  company  for  any 
damage  from  any  cause,  nor  has  there  been  any  injury  to  any  em- 
ployee from  electric  wires  of  any  serious  character,  nothing  from 
which  any  one  has  not  in  a  short  time  recovered.  I  would  like  to 
state  in  this  connection  that  our  employees  are  insured  by  the 
Employers'  Liability  Association,  for  almost  the  same  rates  used  in 
the  most  favored  cases;  that  is  for  sixty  cents  a  hundred  dollars  of 
pay  roll  per  annum.  They  get  the  full  indemnity,  ;^5,ooo  apiece  for 
every  man.  That  shows  that  the  Employers'  Liability  Association, 
who  have  made  a  most  careful  examination,  were  satisfied  that  the 
danger  of  death  from  currents  of  electric  wires  was  very  small 
indeed. 

"  We  are  running,  and  have  been  for  a  year,  currents  of  400  volts 
potential,  for  operating  motors  in  Cambridge,  and  I  have  not  heard 
of  any  injury  or  of  the  slightest  trouble  from  that  current.  We  are 
also  running  500  volt  currents,  and  we  have  not  received  any  com- 
plaint about  those.  We  are  also  running  2,500  volt  currents,  and  in 
their  operation  it  has  been  shown  that  the  tendency  is  to  throw  off 
a  person  who  comes  in  contact  with  the  wires ;  he  does  not  retain 
it  long  enough  to  receive  any  serious  injury,  and  the  only  way  in 
which  we  have  known  of  a  man's  being  hurt  is  from  his  being  thrown 


CONCLUSION.  143 

from  a  pole  and  from  concussion  on  falling  to  the  ground,  not  by  the 
current  itself."  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  dangers  from  using 
electricity  is  comparatively  small,  providing  due  care  is  used  in  its 
operation. 

It  is  hardly  proper  to  compare  the  horse  railroad  with  the  electri- 
cal system  of  street  railway,  as  in  almost  every  respect,  the  latter  is 
so  much  the  superior  of  the  former.  This  is  true  of  every  depart- 
ment of  the  system,  including  its  management  and  operation. 

In  the  latter  respects,  superior  qualifications  are  required  on 
account  of  the  greater  responsibility  attached  to  the  positions. 
When  we  consider  the  high  rates  of  speed  which  it  is  possible  to 
maintain,  the  greater  loads  that  may  be  carried,  the  additional 
weight  and  running  gear,  it  is  plain  that  much  attention  and  care 
are  required.  Some  knowledge  of  electrical  science  is  also  essential 
as  a  qualification  to  the  most  efficient  service. 

Experience  shows  that  annoying  derangements  of  the  machinery 
are  liable  to  occur  occasionally,  demanding  knowledge  of  the  wrong 
condition,  and  ability  to  overcome  it  for  the  time  being.  This  knowl- 
edge should  be  possessed  by  the  motorneer,  who  should  be  able  to 
see,  at  once,  the  obstacle,  and  in  many  cases  be  able  to  apply  a  tem- 
porary remedy.  This  same  knowledge  should  be  possessed  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  by  all  who  have  anything  to  do  with  motors  or 
with  the  apparatus  of  the  power  house.  Want  of  this  knowledge  has 
been  the  cause  why  some  men  who  have  been  long  connected  with 
the  former  system  have  had  to  give  place  to  men  of  less  experience 
in  railroading,  but  with  better  understanding  of  the  wants  of  the  new 
order  of  things. 

As  has  been  intimated,  it  is  not  expected  that  every  employee  will 
be  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  road  and  its  equipments,  from 
the  power  house  to  the  rolling  stock,  but  it  is  important  that  each 
man  should  be  familiar  with  the  details  of  his  department,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  remedy  many  of  the  defects  as  they  arise.  In  order  to  be 
this  he  must  be  a  student ;  he  must  read,  think  and  learn  how  to  ap- 
ply his  knowledge  to  the  practical  purposes  of  his  calling.     He  must 


144  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

be  progressive  in  knowledge,  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  that  is 
constantly  being  made  in  electrical  science,  or  he  will  sooner  or  later 
find  that  when  some  emergency  arises  he  is  deficient,  and  will  not  be 
able  to  meet  it. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  many  advantages  of  the  electrical 
system  of  street  railway  : 

1.  It  is  more  economical. 

2.  It  affords  better  accommodations  to  the  patrons  of  the  road. 

3.  It  favors  more  rapid  transit. 

4.  Cars  can  run  up  steep  grades  where  it  would  be  impossible  to 
use  horses. 

5.  It  opens  up  suburban  residences  and  enhances  the  value  of 
property  in  these  localities. 

With  all  of  the  advantages  of  the  present  system,  perfection  is  not 
claimed  for  it.  While  it  has  reached  a  state  of  commercial  success, 
we  can  hardly  conceive  what  may  be  some  of  its  possibilities. 
Already  one  or  two  of  the  leading  companies  have  in  process  of  con- 
struction fast  speed  locomotives,  which  are  designed  to  travel  from 
forty  to  one  hundred  miles  per  hour.  Should  these  experiments  be 
successful,  as  they  now  promise  to  be,  the  steam  railroad  may,  at 
no  very  distant  day,  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  which  would  mean  no 
smoke,  no  cinders  and  faster  travel. 


HISTORY  OF   THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY.  145 

( 


APPENDIX   A. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    HISTORY    OF    THE    ELECTRIC    RAILWAY. 

THOMAS  DAVENPORT,  a  poor  blacksmith  of  Brandon,  Vt., 
constructed  what  might  be  termed  the  first  electric  railway. 
The  invention  was  crude  and  of  little  practical  value,  but  the  idea 
was  there.  In  1835  he  exhibited  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  a  small  model 
electric  engine  running  upon  a  circular  track,  the  circuit  being  fur- 
nished by  primary  batteries  carried  in  the  car. 

Three  years  later,  Robert  Davidson,  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  began 
his  experiments  in  this  direction  ;  his  aim  was  to  supplant  the  steam 
railway  locomotive  by  the  electric  locomotive.  With  this  view  in 
mind  he  constructed  quite  a  powerful  electric  motor,  which  was 
mounted  upon  a  truck.  Forty  battery  cells,  carried  on  the  car,  fur- 
nished power  to  propel  the  motor.  The  battery  elements  were 
composed  of  amalgamated  zinc  and  iron  plates,  the  exciting  liquid 
being  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  This  locomotive  was  run  successfully 
on  several  steam  railroads  in  Scotland,  the  speed  attained  was  four 
miles  an  hour,  but  this  machine  was  afterwards  destroyed  by  some 
malicious  person  or  persons  while  it  was  being  taken  home  to 
Aberdeen. 

In  1849  Moses  Farmer  exhibited  an  electric  engine  which  drew  a 
small  car  containing  two  persons. 

In  185 1,  Dr.  Charles  Grafton  Page,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  perfected  an 
electric  engine  of  considerable  power.  On  April  29  of  that  year  the 
engine  was  attached  to  a  car  and  a  trip  was  made  from  Washington 
to  Bladensburg,  over  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  track.  The 
highest  speed  attained  was  nineteen  miles  an  hour.  The  electric 
power  was  furnished  by  one  hundred  Grove  cells  carried  on  the 
engine.     The  consumption  of  zinc  by  the  acid  was  very  large  and 


146  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

the  jarring  and  shaking  of  the  engine  broke  the  jars  in  a  shocking 
manner,  which  made  the  expense  so  great  as  to  prohibit  its  applica- 
tion to  commercial  purposes. 

The  same  year,  Thomas  Hall,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  built  a  small  elec- 
tric locomotive  called  the  Volta.  The  current  was  furnished  by  two 
Grove  battery  cells  which  were  conducted  to  the  rails,  thence 
through  the  wheels  of  the  locomotive  to  the  motor.  This  was  the 
first  instance  of  the  current  being  supplied  to  the  motor  on  a  loco- 
motive from  a  stationary  source.  It  was  exhibited  at  the  Charitable 
Mechanics'  fair  by  him  in  i860. 

Another  early  inventor.  Dr.  Joseph  R.  Finney,  of  Pittsburg 
designed  and  obtained  a  patent  upon  the  transmission  of  electrical 
power  from  a  dynamo  by  a  wire  stretched  about  twenty  feet  above 
and  parallel  with  the  tracks.  This  trolley  supported  a  light  wheeled 
vehicle  which  rolled  along  upon  the  trolley  wire,  from  this  a  flexible 
metallic  conductor  made  connection  with  the  motor  in  the  car,  the 
return  circuit  being  through  the  wheels  and  rails  to  the  dynamo. 

Mr.  George  Green,  of  Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  was  another  inventor  of 
the  electric  railway.  He  used  a  battery  to  obtain  the  electric  power 
and  it  was  transmitted  through  the  rails  of  the  track  and  wheels  of 
his  car  to  the  motor. 

In  1879,  Messrs.  Siemen  &  Halske,  of  Berlin,  constructed  and 
operated  an  electric  railway  at  the  Industrial  Exposition.  A  third 
rail  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  two  outer  rails,  supplied  the  current 
which  was  taken  up  into  the  motor  through  a  sliding  contact  under 
the  locomotive.  This  current  returned  through  the  wheels  of  the 
locomotive,  the  outer  rails  serving  as  conductors  to  the  dynamo. 
The  car  accommodated  about  twenty  passengers,  and  the  speed 
attained  was  about  eight  miles  per  hour.  The  circuit  of  three  hun- 
dred meters  was  made  in  about  two  minutes. 

In  1880  Thomas  A.  Edison  constructed  an  experimental  road  near 
his  laboratory  in  Menlo  Park,  N.  J.  The  power  from  the  locomotive 
was  transferred  to  the  car  by  belts  running  to  and  from  the  shafts 
of  each.  The  current  was  taken  from  and  returned  through  the 
rails. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY.  147 

Early  in  the  year  of  1881  the  Lichterfelde,  Germany,  electric 
railway  was  put  into  operation.  It  is  a  third  rail  system  and  is  still 
running  at  the  present  time.  This  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  com- 
mercial electric  railway  constructed. 

In  1883  the  Daft  Electric  Co.  equipped  and  operated  quite  suc- 
cessfully an  electric  system  on  the  Saratoga  &  Mt.  McGregor 
Railroad,  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.  The  current  was  taken  from  a  third 
rail  in  the  centre,  between  the  two  outside  rails.  The  locomotive 
used  was  named  the  Ampere.  The  line  was  about  fifteen  miles  long 
over  steep  grades  and  the  speed  attained  was  about  eight  miles  an 
hour.     Mr.  Leo  Daft  was  the  inventor  of  this  system. 

In  the  summer  of  1884  Mr.  Daft  successfully  equipped  with  elec- 
tric apparatus  a  short  road  upon  one  of  the  piers  at  Coney  Island. 

On  July  27,  1884,  Bentley  &  Knight  opened  an  electric  railway 
system  in  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  first  overhead  system  in  the  United  States  was  constructed  in 
Kansas  City,  Mo.  It  was  about  half  a  mile  in  length  and  was  con- 
structed by  J.  C.  Henry. 

In  1885  Charles  J.  Van  Depoele  equipped  a  short  road  at  Toronto, 
Canada.     In  1886  he  equipped  another  line  at  Windsor,  Ont. 

On  April  27,  1887,  the  Daft  Electric  Co.  opened  an  electric  road 
at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

In  1880  Mr.  F.  J.  Sprague  equipped  a  short  electric  road  in  St. 
Joseph,  Mo.,  and  another  at  Richmond,  Va.  In  this  road  thirteen 
miles  were  equipped  and  twenty  cars  were  operated  successfully. 

This  was  followed  by  the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Railway  at 
Crescent  Beach,  Mass. 

October  31,  1888,  the  Council  Bluffs  &  Omaha  Railway  and 
Bridge  Co.  was  first  operated  by  electricity,  they  using  the  Thomson- 
Houston  system.  The  same  year  the  Thomson-Houston  Co. 
equipped  the  Highland  Division  of  the  Lynn  &  Boston  Horse  Rail- 
way at  Lynn,  Mass. 

Horse  railways  now  began  to  be  equipped  with  electricity  all  over 
the  world,  and  especially  in  the  United  States.     In  February,   1889, 


148  ELECTRIC    RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Co.  had  equipped  the  line  from  Bow- 
doin  Square,  Boston,  to  Harvard  Square,  Cambridge,  of  the  West 
End  Railway  with  electricity  and  operated  twenty  cars,  since  which 
time  it  has  increased  its  electrical  apparatus,  until  now  it  is  the  lar- 
gest electric  railway  line  in  the  world. 

From  the  above  brief  historical  sketch,  it  is  seen  that  the  electric 
street  railway  system  has  made  advancement  since  its  inception  in 
1835,  until  today,  when  it  may  be  said  to  have  passed  its  experimen- 
tal stage,  and  become  an  assured  success.  Electric  roads  are  now 
rapidly  springing  up  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  That  the  electric  rail- 
way has  come  to  stay  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  of  its  future  devel- 
opments, who  can  tell }  No  doubt,  electricity  is  in  its  infancy,  and 
that,  within  a  few  years,  still  further  marvels  of  this  mysterious 
power  will  be  witnessed. 


FEJVDERS.  149 


APPENDIX   B. 


FENDERS. 


ANOTHER  important  feature  is  a  safety  device  known  as  a  "fen- 
der." Its  use  is  to  prevent  injury  and  loss  of  life  of  persons 
coming  in  collision  with  electric  cars.  This  is  accomplished  by  either 
throwing  them  aside  or  catching  them  in  a  net,  where  without  its  use 
they  would  be  thrown  under  the  car  and  crushed.  So  important  is 
this  car  attachment  that  the  Boston  city  government  have  found  it 
necessary  to  appoint  a  special  commission  to  investigate  the  relative 
merits  of  different  fenders  thus  far  in  the  field.  The  West  End 
Railway  Company,  recognizing  the  importance  of  the  need  of  this  in- 
vention, have  offered  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  most  efficient 
fender.  The  following  is  an  account  of  experiments  made  in  Boston, 
May  2d. 

*There  was  a  large  gathering  of  experts  and  interested  spectators 
at  Grove  Hall,  yesterday,  to  witness  another  series  of  experiments 
with  electric  car  fenders.  Half  a  dozen  different  forms  were  exhibi- 
ted, their  respective  merits  being  demonstrated  by  means  of  dum- 
mies representing  a  man,  woman,  and  two  boys. 

The  first  candidate  for  favor  was  the  "automatic,"  which  has 
several  devices  to  secure  its  operation  independent  of  the  motorman. 
It  has  a  cut-off  which  will  shut  the  current  from  the  motor  as  soon  as 
the  fender  is  struck,  a  valve  attachment  to  scatter  grit  on  the  rails,  a 
swinging  tripper  of  adjustable  height,  a  fender  dropping  close  to  the 
rail  at  the  touch  of  an  obstacle,  and  also  acting  as  an  auxiliary  brake. 
The  fender  itself  is  a  net  hanging  straight  down  from  the  dasher  to 
the  rail,  with  an  inclined  scraper  behind  it  to  keep  a  body  from  going 
under  the  wheels.  In  operation  the  legs  and  arms  of  the  dummy 
suffered  severely,  as  the  body  was  rolled  over  and  over. 

•Boston  Herald. 


150  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

The  next  was  a  wooden  scoop  with  a  rubber  edge,  set  at  an  angle. 
In  two  trials  it  carried  the  body  along  with  considerable  bruising,  but 
at  the  third  trial,  with  a  small  boy,  the  legs  got  under  the  edge  of 
the  fender  and  were  crushed. 

The  third  was  the  Sullivan,  the  invention  of  a  motorman  on  the 
line.  It  has  been  tried  once  before.  It  is  a  simple  perpendicular 
form  of  wood,  with  a  rubber  cushion  or  edge,  and  is  dropped  by  a 
lever  by  the  motorman. 

In  each  trial  it  pushed  the  body  along  before  it,  but  like  the  two 
others  it  made  no  provision  to  spare  the  victim  the  concussion  with 
the  dasher  which,  in  case  of  a  swiftly  moving  car,  would  be  fatal. 

No.  4  was  a  wire  net  extending  three  feet  in  front  of  the  car,  like 
the  Appleyard  fender.  It  is  quite  elastic,  and  if  a  body  falls  into  it 
he  is  safe,  but  if  he  is  lying  on  the  track  the  fender  is  liable  to  pass 
over  him  and  drag  him  along  very  roughly. 

The  Campbell  fender  was  next  tried.  It  is  also  a  scoop  net  of 
twine  backed  by  spiral  springs,  making  a  cushion  which  does  not 
allow  the  victim  to  strike  the  dasher.  It  runs  close  to  the  rails, 
so  that  it  will  scoop  up  a  body  lying  down.  It  worked  well  at  each 
trial.  Mr.  Campbell  had  a  second  device,  a  V-shaped  scraper  just  in 
front  of  the  trucks,  the  sides  of  which  were  fitted  with  wooden  roll- 
ers, and  its  apex  composed  of  spiral  springs.  In  each  test  with  bod- 
ies lying  on  the  track,  they  were  pushed  along  and  thrown  aside 
without  going  under  the  wheels. 

No.  6  was  a  simple  scraper  or  plough,  with  a  straight  "  landside  " 
over  one  rail,  and  a  "  mould  board  "  extending  backward  diagonally 
to  the  other  rail.     This  also  rolled  the  dummy  off  the  track. 

The  last  experiment  was  with  the  Cleveland,  which  the  commis- 
sion so  far  approves  as  to  recommend  that  50  cars  be  equipped  with  it. 
It  is  an  iron  frame  or  shelf,  projecting  some  18  inches  from  the  car 
and  resting  some  12  inches  above  the  rails.  With  a  standing  figure 
it  worked  well,  catching  it  and  carrying  it  along,  but  it  makes  no 
claim  to  do  anything  for  a  body  lying  on  the  rails. 


CONTROLLING    STREETCAR    MOTORS.  151 


APPENDIX   C. 

METHODS    OF    ELECTRICALLY    CONTROLLING    STREET-CAR    MOTORS.* 

BY    H.    F.    PARSHALL. 

WHILE  in  many  respects  the  controlling  apparatus  for  street- 
car motors  and  the  general  requirements  of  the  same  do  not 
differ  greatly  from  some  other  cases,  there  are  some  features  that  de- 
mand the  closest  attention  if  the  car  is  to  be  handled  either 
efficiently  or  comfortably,  so  far  as  the  passengers  are  concerned. 
While  the  number  of  methods  proposed  and  tried  in  times  past  has 
been  great,  at  the  present  time  there  seems  to  be  sufficient  agree- 
ment between  the  principal  designers  and  sufficient  data  at  hand 
to  warrant  the  writing  of  a  fairly  comprehensive  paper  on  the  subject. 

The  problem  of  controlling  the  motors  is  probably  the  most  diffi- 
cult one  in  the  whole  range  of  street-car  work,  and  in  no  small  degree 
determines  the  electrical  design  of  the  motors  ;  or  to  be  more  specific, 
to  start  a  car  under  any  given  conditions  of  track  a  certain  torque  is 
required.  Beyond  a  certain  limit,  fixed  largely  by  the  convenience 
of  passengers,  this  torque  cannot  be  exceeded.  The  smaller  the  cur- 
rent with  which  the  motor  is  able  to  develop  this  torque,  the  smaller 
the  rheostat  or  other  starting  devices  may  be,  and  the  more  efficient 
the  car  equipment.  Should  the  motor,  therefore,  be  incapable  of  de- 
veloping a  comparatively  powerful  torque  per  ampere,  the  amount  of 
energy  dissipated  either  in  the  magnetic  windings,  armature  windings 
or  rheostat  becomes  excessive,  the  results  being  the  more  or  less 
rapid  deterioration  of  these  parts. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  order  just  here  to  discuss  the  design  of  the 
motor  with  reference  to  getting  this  torque  most  efficiently.  The 
average  horse-power  exerted  by  a  street-car  motor  at  the  car  wheel 

*  Paper  read  before  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  New  York,  April  19,  1892. 


152  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY    ENGINEERING. 

probably  does  not  exceed  20  per  cent,  of  the  maximum  it  is  expected 
to  do  in  starting  the  car  under  the  various  conditions  encountered. 
Now,  to  get  the  highest  efficiency  from  a  motor  run  under  these  con- 
ditions, it  is  necessary  to  get  the  highest  possible  efficiency  at  that 
horse-power  at  which  the  greatest  amount  of  work  is  to  be  done, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  loss  in  the  conductors  for  this  average  horse- 
power is  necessarily  low  (otherwise  the  motors  would  burn  out  in 
doing  the  maximum  work  to  which  they  are  subjected),  the  question 
does  not  resolve  itself  into  how  to  get  the  least  possible  motor  resis- 
tance of  armature  and  magnets,  but,  rather,  how  to  minimize  the  con- 
stant loss  of  hysteresis,  eddy  currents  and  friction.  While  all  of 
these  losses  vary  somewhat  with  the  speed  in  series-wound  motors, 
the  variation  of  these  losses  is  not  great,  since  for  an  increased 
speed  there  is  in  general  a  diminished  intensity  of  magnetization  and 
pressure.  To  render  these  losses  a  minimum,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  get  the  requisite  torque  to  handle  the  car  efficiently,  there  is  but 
one  solution,  that  is  to  put  the  maximum  number  of  turns  on  the  ar- 
mature compatible  with  good  running  as  to  heating  and  sparking. 

While  the  truth  of  these  statements  may  be  more  or  less  apparent 
to  all  when  stated  in  plain  terms,  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  this 
matter  in  the  earlier  motors  designed.  The  numerous  measurements 
made,  however,  have  so  uniformly  been  in  favor  of  motors  with  com- 
paratively a  large  number  of  conductors  on  the  armatures,  that  the 
importance  of  this  matter  is  now  pretty  generally  understood. 

This  agreement  as  to  the  general  design  of  motors  has  in  no  small 
way  been  influential  in  bringing  electricians  into  agreement  as  to 
how  the  motor  should  be  controlled,  since  with  an  armature  of  a 
comparatively  large  number  of  turns,  less  turns  are  required  in  the 
field  magnets  to  produce  a  given  torque  with  a  given  number  of 
amperes.  The  function  of  the  magnets,  therefore,  has  become  of 
less  importance.  It  is  always,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind  that, 
other  things  being  equal,  the  motor  with  the  greatest  number  of 
turns  in  the  magnets  will  develop  the  greatest  torque  for  small 
currents.  With  a  given  electromotive  force  acting  on  the  armature 
circuit,  and  a  given  torque  developed  by  the  armature  per  ampere,  it 


CONTROLLING    STREET-CAR    MOTORS.  153 

does  not  matter,  so  far  as  efficiency  is  concerned,  whether  the 
difference  in  electromotive  force  at  the  armature  terminals  and  the 
line  is  due  to  drop  in  external  resistance,  or  to  drop  in  the  magnets. 
This  point  determines,  once  for  all,  that  motors  with  commutated 
fields  are  not  necessarily  more  efficient  than  other  motors. 

The  particular  advantages  of  the  commutated  field  method  are, 
that  with  a  limited  number  of  pounds  of  copper,  or  in  the  case  of 
street  car  motors,  with  the  limited  space  available  for  field-magnet 
windings,  it  is  possible  to  adjust  the  magnetizing  force  of  the  field 
coils,  so  that  the  rate  of  doing  work  of  the  motors  may  be  made  to 
correspond  with  the  rate  this  work  is  required  by  the  car  for  the 
various  speeds  and  conditions  of  track.  This  adjustment  may  be 
made  for  any  size  of  motor  with  any  required  degree  of  precision  by 
varying  the  number  of  magnetic  coils.  To  increase  the  range  or 
precision  it  is  only  necessary  to  increase  the  number  of  coils.  In 
practice  it  has  been  found  that  this  number  could  not  be  very  great, 
otherwise  the  car  wiring  becomes  too  complicated  and  too  expensive. 
This  same  holds  true  of  the  controlling-switch.  Three  magnet  coils 
or  sets  of  magnet  coils  seem  to  be  the  practical  limit,  since  there  is 
a  general  agreement  between  street-railway  managers  that  the  present 
number  of  magnet  connections  (6)  should  not  be  increased,  and  even 
with  this  number  there  is  occasional  trouble  with  broken  wires  or  ter- 
minals. With  a  51  horse-power  motor  it  is  possible  with  three  sets  of 
coils  to  run  under  most  conditions  met  with  in  practice  without  em- 
ploying external  resistance.  It  is  occasionally  necessary,  however, 
when  the  car  is  to  be  run  at  two  or  three  miles  an  hour  to  make  use 
of  the  resistance  coil  that  is  ordinarily  used  only  when  starting. 
With  25  horse-power  motors  it  is  necessary,  with  three  sets  of  mag- 
net windings,  to  make  use  of  this  resistance  coil  very  considerably  in 
ordinary  practice,  since  without  this  it  is  not  possible  to  get  a  speed 
of  less  than  one-third  maximum  speed  of  the  car,  which  is  gener-- 
ally  taken  to  be  about  18  miles  an  hour. 

The  range  of  speeds  without  the  use  of  a  rheostat  is  determined 
by  the  limit  to  which  it  is  safe  to  heat  the  magnets.  The  tempera- 
ture of  the  magnets  should  not   in  any  case  exceed  65°  C.     This 


154 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


would  put  the  increase  of  temperature  at  about  30°  C.  This  in- 
crease corresponds  to  an  average  loss  in  the  magnets  of  about  0.3  of 
a  watt  per  square  inch  of  radiating  surface.  For  the  few  seconds 
generally  taken  to  start  the  car  the  loss  may  be  as  high  as  two  watts 
per  square  inch  without  dangerous  heating.  Experience,  however, 
has  demonstrated  that  to  exceed  this  limit,  even  for  very  short 
periods,  there  is  considerable  risk.  Having  the  maximum  number  of 
watts  that  may  be  dissipated  in  the  magnets,  the  series  resistance  of 
same  may  be  calculated  from  the  properties  of  the  motor  on  the 
supposition  that  each  ampere  taken  by  the  motor  produces  a  certain 
number  of  pounds  pull  at  the  periphery  of  the  car  wheel.  In  a  well- 
designed,  motor  with  commutated  fields  it  is  easy  to  get  from  35  to 
40  pounds  pull  at  the  periphery  of  a  thirty-inch  car  wheel  with  the 
coils  in  the  series  position.  These  coils  are  either  wound  side  by 
side,  or  one  on  top  of  the  other,  according  to  the  necessities  of  the 
case  as  determined  by  the  general  design  of  the  motor.  Experience 
has  shown  the  advisability  of  winding  these  coils  in  independent 
spools  whenever  the  general  design  will  permit,  since  in  the  case  of 
trouble  it  is  cheaper  and  easier  to  replace  the  damaged  coil,  and 
there  is  less  liability  of  crosses  between  the  coils.  As  an  example  of 
a  design  that  has  been  found  to  give  general  satisfaction  in  practice, 
I  give  the  following  figures  from  a  series  of  tests  made  on  a  Sprague 
No.  6,  S.  C.  motor,  the  magnetic  data  of  which  has  already  been 
published  by  myself  :  * 


EFFICIENCY   ON    STREET   CAR    MOTOR   NO.   6. 


Brake  H.  P. 

Efficiency. 

\M 

87  Per  Cent. 

87 

< 

II.4 

86 

84 

8.25 

82 

6.35 

79 

4.9 

72 

3-9 

70 

Speed.  Remarks. 

mo  3  coils  in  parallel 

"74  '     3      "  "       

1184  2      "  "       

1309  '     2      "  "       

955  2  in  parallel,  i  in  series. 

1040  2  "         I  " 

1070  '     2  coils  in  series   

1014  3      "  "     


Res. 


0.8 

.8 

1.4 

1.4 

3-24 
3-24 
4.86 
7.42 


*  Transactions,  vol.  vii.  p.  218. 


CONTROLLING    STREETCAR    MOTORS.  155 

It  is  to  be  noted  especially  that  it  is  possible  to  get  an  approxi- 
mately constant  speed  with  a  wide  range  of  loads,  and  yet  have  the 
energy  dissipated  in  the  magnets  remain  approximately  constant,  and 
that  it  is  possible  to  get  a  torque  corresponding  very  approximately 
over  a  wide  range,  to  that  required  to  propel  a  car  under  conditions 
met  with.  This  is  the  solution  of  the  question  how  to  get  the 
highest  efficiency.  For  instance,  suppose  a  car  is  to  be  run  between 
two  points  in  a  given  space  of  time,  and  this  is  not  an  infrequent 
requirement,  and  that  the  magnet  windings  of  the  motor  are  such 
that  either  the  car  runs  the  distance  in  too  short  a  time,  or  in  too 
long  a  time,  it  will  be  necessary  then  to  accelerate  the  car  for  a  time 
beyond  the  limit  required,  then  to  allow  it  to  slow  down,  then  to 
accelerate  it  again,  or  go  through  some  such  cycle  of  operations  to 
get  the  required  results.  More  power  will  be  required  with  such 
windings  than  when  such  a  torque  can  be  had  at  the  motor,  that  will 
produce  the  required  speed  by  an  approximately  uniform  accelera- 
tion. To  get  the  same  results  given  above  for  the  No.  6  motor,  with 
the  magnet  coils  arranged  in  loops  instead  of  separate  coils,  would 
require  upwards  of  three  times  as  many  pounds  of  copper  as  was 
used  in  the  present  case  (no  lbs.).  This  motor  was  designed  to  give 
a  maximum  car  speed  under  ordinary  conditions  of  from  12  to  15 
miles  an  hour.  At  present  it  is  thought  advisable  to  have  a  maxi- 
mum car  speed  of  from  18  to  20  miles  an  hour,f  since  numerous 
measurements  have  shown  the  economy  of  running  street  cars  at  as 
high  a  speed  as  the  conditions  of  track,  etc.,  will  permit.  In  a  series 
of  measurements  made  by  myself  it  was  found  that  the  watt  hours 
per  car  mile  decreased  very  considerably  with  the  speed  of  the  car 
up  to  30  miles  an  hour.  To  get  this  high  speed  (20  miles  per  hour), 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  vary  the  proportions  of  the  magnet 
coils  from  that  given  in  the  above  for  the  No.  6  motor.  Thus  for  a 
single  reduction  15  horse-power  motor  the  resistance  of  the  last  coil 
to  be  turned  from  series  to  parallel  is  only  1 5  per  cent  of  the  total 

t  All  car  speeds  are  quoted  for  straight  and  level  tracks.  These,  when  calculated  for  a  new  motor,  are 
determined  from  the  speed  and  horse-power  curve  of  the  motor,  assuming  the  resistance  to  be  30  lbs.  per  ton. 
The  methods  of  measuring  these  speeds  are  in  general  such  that  the  probable  error  is  too  great  to  determine 
the  percentage  slip  of  the  wheels. 


156  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY   ENGINEERIAG. 

resistance  of  the  magnets,  and  the  turns  of  this  coil  only  20  per 
cent  of  the  turns  in  the  other  two  coils.  The  reason  for  putting  this 
low  resistance  coil  inside,  is  to  get  the  greatest  number  of  turns 
when  the  coils  are  all  in  series,  and  the  least  resistance  when  the 
coils  are  all  in  parallel.  Further,  under  ordinary  conditions,  this  coil 
has  the  least  expenditure  of  energy  in  it,  and  the  least  radiating 
surface.  With  a  winding  of  this  proportion,  it  is  necessary  with  15 
horse-power  motors  to  use  an  external  resistance  of  6  or  8  ohms. 
With  25  horse-power  motors  an  external  resistance  of  from  10  to  12 
ohms  is  required.  This  resistance  should  be  so  sub-divided  that 
there  is  not  more  than  20  volts  E.  M.  F.  between  adjacent  contact 
pieces,  and  so  proportioned  that  the  increase  of  temperature  is  not 
in  any  case  above  1 50°  C. 

A  method  that  is  receiving  a  great  deal  of  attention  now  is  that 
known  as  the  "series  parallel  method."  While  it  has  not  yet  been 
introduced  very  largely  in  practice,  numerous  experiments  have  in- 
dicated the  desirability  of  doing  this  as  soon  as  some  of  the  trouble- 
some features  of  the  switch  have  been  overcome.  The  method  of 
operating  is  as  follows  : 

In  starting,  a  rheostat  of  from  8  to  20  ohms  is  used,  according  to 
circumstances,  in  series  with  the  motors,  which  are  in  series  with 
each  other.  After  this  resistance  is  thrown  out  of  circuit  the 
magnet  coils  of  one  of  the  motors  are  short-circuited,  a  section  at  a 
time.  To  make  the  start  smooth,  three  or  four  coils  at  least  are 
required.  The  magnet  coils  being  short-circuited,  the  armature  is 
then  short-circuited,  and  the  magnet  coils  thrown  in  circuit  simulta- 
neously with  the  armatures  being  thrown  in  parallel.  It  is  just  at 
this  point  where  the  difficulty  with  the  switch  has  been  encountered, 
since  either  the  switch  has  to  be  operated  with  great  rapidity  or  the 
contacts  act  in  perfect  unison,  otherwise  unpleasant  results  as  to 
short-circuiting  occurs. 

The  advantages  of  the  method  are  that  a  very  wide  range  of 
speeds  are  obtainable  at  a  comparatively  high  efficiency,  and  that  the 
energy  required  to  be  dissipated  by  the  rheostat  is  small  for  the  low 


158  ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 

speeds  frequently  required  in  city  practice.  This  lessening  the  duty 
of  the  rheostat  is  a  very  important  point,  since  as  yet  it  has  been 
found  exceedingly  difficult  to  construct  a  cheap  rheostat  that  could 
be  placed  under  the  car  in  the  small  space  available  and  dissipate  so 
large  an  amount  of  energy  as  is  required  when  the  car  is  to  be  run 
for  a  considerable  time  at  a  speed  as  low  as  two  or  three  miles  an 
hour.  Any  method  of  control  that  has  lessened  the  energy  to  be 
dissipated  in  the  rheostat  has  in  general  been  considered  with  favor, 
since  there  has  been  a  corresponding  diminution  of  trouble  in  each 
case  that  the  energy  to  be  dissipated  has  been  lessened. 

Having  now  given  a  general  discussion  of  the  problem  a  brief 
description  of  some  of  the  apparatus  recently  devised  may  prove  of 
interest. 

Fig.  I  shows  the  general  design  and  arrangement  of  an  improved 
form  of  platform  switch,  which  combines  both  the  "field  commuta- 
tion "  and  the  "  series  resistance  "  methods  of  starting  cars.  To 
start  the  car,  the  switch  handle  is  turned  from  the  position  marked 
"off"  with  a  counter-clockwise  movement;  this  movement  carries 
the  arm  of  the  rheostat,  which  is  placed  under  the  switch,  around  and 
over  the  contact  segments,  so  that  the  resistance  is  gradually  cut  out 
of  circuit.  After  the  contact  arm  has  been  carried  around  to  135 
degrees  and  all  the  resistance  has  been  cut  out,  it  is  released  from 
the  cylinder  shaft  and  left  locked  in  this  position.  A  further  move- 
ment of  the  switch  handle  then  affects  only  the  cylinder,  and  com- 
mutates  the  sectional  windings  of  the  field  magnets  of  the  motor 
from  series  to  parallel  in  the  usual  way.  In  stopping  the  car  the 
field  coils  are  turned  from  parallel  to  series,  the  resistance  coil  is 
then  again  put  into  circuit  and  the  circuit  broken  when  the  contact 
lever  leaves  the  last  segment  of  the  resistance  coil,  and  not,  as 
hitherto,  upon  the  cylinder  contacts.  The  only  caution  to  be 
observed  in  stopping  is  to  see  that  the  switch  handle  shall  be  turned 
to  the  position  marked  "  off,"  for  the  motors  are  reversed  by  means 
of  a  separate  reversing  switch  placed  under  the  car  and  operated  by 
a  lever  connecting  with  a  separate  shaft  in  the  controlling  switch 


CONTROLLING    STREET-CAR    MOTORS.  159 

case.  The  shaft  of  the  platform  switch  interlocks  with  this  revers- 
ing shaft  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  impossible  to  reverse  the  motors 
until  the  cylinder  is  in  the  "off"  position.  The  use  of  this  separate 
controlling  switch  has  been  objected  to,  but  to  combine  both  the 
advantages  of  the  rheostat  and  commutated  fields  the  switch  mechan- 
ism becomes  too  complicated  and  the  switch  too  large  to  have  the 
reversing  performed  by  a  reverse  movement  of  the  controlling  switch 
handle.  . 

The  cylinder  plates  and  contacts  are  made  of  thick  iron  stampings, 
as  experience  has  shown  that  iron  is  more  durable  than  brass  for  this 
purpose.  The  burning,  due  to  the  formation  of  arcs,  does  not 
have  so  much  effect  upon  iron  as  it  does  upon  brass,  and  there  is 
more  certainty  of  good  contact.  The  contacts  on  the  cylinder  con- 
sist of  a  number  of  stampings  arranged  in  a  brass  frame,  each 
stamping  making  an  independent  spring  contact  with  the  switch 
cylinder.  The  rheostat  employed  is  built  up  in  a  circular  form  from 
a  large  number  of  flat  rings  stamped  from  thin  iron  sheets.  The 
rings  are  built  up  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder,  each  ring  of  iron  being 
separated  from  the  adjacent  rings  by  a  ring  of  mica,  except  at  the 
point  where  it  makes  contact  with  the  ring  on  the  other  side  of  it. 
Instead,  however,  of  being  arranged  in  a  continuous  spiral  circuit, 
the  coil  is  divided  into  a  number  of  parts  so  arranged  that  the 
direction  of  rotation  of  the  adjacent  spirals  is  reversed,  this  being 
done  to  make  the  inductance  of  the  coil  as  small  as  possible. 
A  coil  wound  up  in  a  continuous  spiral  having  a  mean  diameter  of 
\2"  and  a  radial  depth  of  \" ,  6"  long,  and  composed  of  4(X)  plates, 
was  found  to  have  an  inductance  of  40  mili-henrys.  The  coil  was 
then  wound  up  in  12  sections,  the  direction  of  each  section  being 
reversed,  and  the  inductance  in  this  case  was  found  to  be  8.5  milli- 
henrys.  These  sections  are  stamped  from  different  thicknesses  of 
metal,  so  that  those  coils  which  are  in  circuit  the  shortest  time  and 
have  the  least  current  to  carry  are  of  highest  resistance  and  least 
ampere  capacity,  and  those  that  are  liable  to  be  in  circuit  for  some 
time   are   thicker  and   have   less    resistance    and    greater  ampere 


160  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

capacity.  Copper  connections  are  made  at  different  points  in  the 
coil,  all  these  connections  being  brought  to  a  number  of  small  iron 
contact  pieces  fitted  in  a  spiral  form  and  arranged  so  that  the  switch 
contact  lever  can  slide  over  them.  The  contact  pieces  are  insulated 
from  the  frame  with  sheet  mica  and  from  one  another  with  small 
slate  slabs.  The  rheostat  is  entirely  fireproof  and  can  expel  with 
safety  the  heat  evolved  within  it  under  all  ordinary  circumstances. 
Aa  a  point  of  practical  importance  it  is,  however,  advisable  to  place 
a  sheet  of  metal  and  a  layer  of  asbestos  paper  between  the  rheostat 
frame  and  the  car  floor.  This  will  prevent  any  danger  from  fire, 
either  from  heating  or  sparking,  should  such  occur.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  general  design  of  this  rheostat  is  such  that  those  parts 
having  mechanical  functions  and  energy -dissipating  functions  have 
been  separated  as  much  as  possible.  Of  course  the  mechanical 
functions  of  a  rheostat  are  more  or  less  limited ;  it  is  evident,  how- 
ever, this  effort  is  in  the  right  direction.  It  is  with  respect  to  this 
particular  point  that  the  rheostat  has  a  decided  advantage  over  any 
form  of  mechanical  clutch  in  starting  a  car.  The  clutch,  of  course, 
has  its  advantage  in  starting  quickly  bodies  that  have  a  great 
amount  of  inertia.  In  ordinary  practice,  however,  the  amount  of 
energy  dissipated  in  a  clutch  is  approximately  equal  to  that  neces- 
sary to  dissipate  in  a  rheostat,  but  the  clutch  has  in  addition  to  its 
energy-dissipating  function,  a  very  exact  mechanical  function,  and 
these  two  functions  are  interdependent  on  the  same  wearing  parts. 
For  this  reason,  if  no  other,  clutches  have  not  yet  been  made  to 
compete  favorably  with  rheostats. 

Fig.  2  gives  a  diagram  of  the  car  connections  for  this  switch.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  current  from  the  trolley  wire  first  goes  through 
the  field  coils  and  switch  cylinder  for  commutation,  then  through  the 
armature  and  reversing  switch,  and  thence  through  the  switch  con- 
tact lever  and  resistance  coil  (in  starting)  to  ground.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  by  use  of  the  separate  reversing  switch  the  armature 
wires  and  field  wires  are  each  kept  separate  and  distinct  from  one 
another.     Formerly  there  was  considerable  trouble  from  the  break- 


162 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


ing  of  these  wires,  especially  where  the  wire  entered  the  brass 
terminals  at  the  various  terminal  boards.  This  has  been  almost 
entirely  obviated  by  using  49-strand  cable  wherever  wire  was  sub- 
jected to  bending. 

In  some  cases  the  construction  at  the  platform  ends  is  such  as  to 
make  it  inconvenient  to  place  the  rheostat  used  with  this  form  of 
switch  immediately  underneath  the  cylinder.     This  is  the  case  when 


Figure  3. — detachahlk  rheostat. 

certain  kinds  of  draw-bar  or  step  constructions  are  used.  In  these 
cases  a  modification  of  the  switch  arrangements  is  made  so  that 
instead  of  the  rheostat  a  light  frame  is  placed  directly  under  the 
cylinder.  This  frame  serves  to  support  the  switch-shaft,  upon  which 
is  placed  a  crank  connecting  with  a  bar,  which  is  carried  off  to  the 
rheostat  contact  lever.     With  this  arrangement  the  rheostat  can  be 


CONTROLLING  STREET-CAR   MOTORS.  163 

placed  under  any  convenient  part  of  the  car  flooring  and  operated  as 
well  as  when  directly  under  the  platform. 

Figs.  4  and  5  show  general  plans  of  a  car  switch  designed  to  be 
placed  under  the  car  and  about  half  way  between  the  motors,  when 
the  car  construction  permits.  This  design,  while  open  to  the  criti- 
cism that  the  switch  is  somewhat  inaccessible  for  inspection,  meets 
the  demand  that  has  sometimes  been  made  when  it  has  been  thousfht 
the  space  ordinarily  occupied  by  the  platform  switch  could  not  be 
sacrificed.  The  principle  is  the  same  as  the  platform  switch  already 
described,  but  it  is  modified  in  form  and  shape  to  suit  the  particular 
condition  under  which  it  is  to  work,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
mechanical  adjustments  required  are  much  more  exact,  otherwise 
there  would  be  considerable  burning  of  the  contacts,  since  the  motor- 
man  would  be  unable  to  tell  whether  or  not  the  switch  contacts  were 
on  proper  positions.  The  rheostat  is  arranged  in  sections  and  con- 
nections brought  from  them  directly  to  cylinder  contacts.  A  cylin- 
der is  used  to  commutate  both  resistance  and  field  magnet  coils. 

An  important  point  that  has  been  attended  to  in  this  switch  is  the 
breaking  of  the  circuit  on  a  separate  switch  instead  of  on  the  cylin- 
der. A  snap  switch,  of  the  knife  blade  pattern,  is  employed  to 
break  the  circuit  at  four  points.  It  operates  in  connection  with  the 
cylinder  shaft,  to  which  it  is  connected  with  a  special  locking  and 
releasing  gear  of  similar  design  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  i.  The  first 
movement  of  the  cylinder  shaft  closes  the  snap  switch  and  completes 
the  circuit  through  the  coil.  Further  movement  then  disengages  the 
snap  switch  from  the  shaft  (leaving  it  closed)  and  the  different  com- 
mutations are  effected.  When  breaking  the  circuit  the  snap  switch 
is  again  brought  into  action. 

When  this  form  of  car-controlling  switch  is  used,  the  platform 
lever  is  fitted  at  its  lower  end  with  a  bevel  gear  wheel  meshed  into 
another  gear  wheel  placed  on  the  cylinder  shaft.  When  necessary 
an  extension  shaft  fitted  with  one  or  more  universal  joints  makes 
connection  between  the  platform  lever  and  the  cylinder  shaft. 
When  this  switch  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  car,  the  amount  of  car 


CONTROLLING  STREET-CAR  MOTORS.  165 

wiring  is  materially  lessened  and  the  car  inspection  made  more  easy. 

With  reference  to  controlling  switches  in  general,  it  is  evident 
that  a  great  number  of  designs  may  be  prepared  that  will  give 
approximately  the  same  electrical  results  in  point  of  efficiency.  In 
deciding  then  upon  the  merits  of  a  new  design  of  switch,  the  com- 
mercial factor  relating  to  repairs  has  therefore  to  be  very  largely 
considered,  and  had  designers  been  able  to  guide  their  work  more 
closely  from  the  balance  sheets  of  railroad  companies,  when  such  had 
been  properly  kept,  instead  of  conforming  to  popular  notions,  very 
much  more  progress  would  have  been  made  in  this  line  during  the 
last  few  years. 

In  closing  this  paper  it  might  be  well  that  I  should  remark  that 
my  experience  has  been  largely  confined  to  what  is  known  as  the 
commutated  field  method  of  control,  and  that  I  have  naturally 
expressed  many  of  the  qualities  of  other  methods  in  terms  of  this 
method.  If  these  expressions  are  not  judged  satisfactory,  I  leave 
it  for  those  who  have  had  a  similar  experience  with  other  systems 
to  express  in  their  criticisms  the  qualities  of  the  commutated  field 
system  in  their  own  terms. 


Note.  — The  illustrations  used  in  this  article  were  kindly  loaned  to  us  by  the  Electrical  Age  Publishing 
Co.,  New  York  City. 


166  ELECTRIC  RAIL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 


APPENDIX     D. 


RAPID    TRANSIT. 


LESSONS    FROM    THE    CENSUS.* 

BY   CARROLL   D.    WRIGHT,    A.    M. 

WE  have  seen  that  the  population  of  cities  is  rapidly  gaining  in 
proportion  to  the  increase  of  population  in  the  whole  country, 
and  also  that  this  growth  in  cities  is  largely  suburban  in  its  character. 
The  suburban  growth  is  fed  from  without  and  from  within.  As 
business  is  extended,  and  the  room  and  area  formerly  occupied  by 
people  are  taken  for  great  mercantile  houses  and  for  manufacturing, 
the  population  of  such  areas  is  sent  out  to  the  suburbs  of  necessity, 
while  many  seek  suburban  residences  as  a  matter  of  choice.  From 
without  the  suburban  population  is  augmented  by  the  rush  to  cities 
from  the  country.  Owing  to  the  improvement  in  methods  of  agri- 
culture, by  which  production  from  the  earth  becomes  in  some  sense 
a  manufacture,  a  less  number  of  persons  is  required  for  agricultural 
purposes  than  of  old.  The  question  is  often  asked  why,  if  population 
increases,  there  is  not  an  increasing  necessity  of  supplying  food 
products,;  and  if  there  is  such  a  necessity,  why  can  great  numbers 
be  spared  from  the  rural  districts  to  engage  in  the  business  under- 
takings of  the  cities.''  Improved  methods  of  production  offer  an 
answer  to  this  question,  the  result  being  that  the  labor  of  the 
country  not  being  in  so  great  demand,  even  to  supply  the  vast 
increase  required  in  food  products,  seeks  remunerative  employment 
in  centres  of  populations.  As  the  contraction  of  labor  through 
invention  goes  on,  the  expansion  of  labor  through  invention  grows  to 
a  greater  extent ;  and  it  is  probably  true  that  through  inventions,  or 
through  great  industries  which  have  come  into  being  in  recent  years, 
a  larger  number  of  people  are  employed  relatively  than  are  deprived 

•Abstract  from  Popular  Sciettce  Monthly,  April,  1892. 


RAPID    TRANSIT.  167 

of  employment  through  improved  methods.  The  great  industries 
associated  with  electrics,  railroad  enterprises,  the  building  of  new 
kinds  of  machinery,  and  the  absorbing  in  various  ways  of  laborers  in 
occupations  not  known  until  within  a  few  years,  enables  manufac- 
turing centres  to  furnish  gainful  work  to  those  coming  from  the 
country,  where,  relatively  speaking,  they  are  not  needed.  These 
people  take  up  their  residence  in  the  suburbs,  though  they  may 
find  their  occupations  in  the  crowded  areas  of  the  cities  themselves. 
The  question  of  rapid  transit  in  cities,  therefore,  becomes  one  not 
only  of  great  interest  in  the  study  of  the  movement  of  population  at 
the  present  time,  but  one  of  prime  necessity  for  the  consideration  of 
municipal  governments.  It  is  something  more  than  a  question  of 
economics  or  of  business  convenience ;  it  is  a  social  and  an  ethical 
question  as  well. 

The  bulletins  of  the  census  furnish,  to  some  extent,  the  statistics 
relating  to  rapid  transit  in  cities,  and  of  the  relative  economy  of 
different  motive  powers  used  on  street  railways.  These  bulletins 
have  been  prepared  by  Mr.  Charles  H.  Coolley,  special  agent  for 
rapid-transit  facilities  in  cities,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  that 
skillful  statistican  and  economist,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Adams,  special 
agent  for  transportation,  and  from  them  we  learn  the  growth  of 
rapid-transit  facilities  during  the  ten  years  from  1880  to  1889,  inclu- 
sive, in  cities  having  over  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  The  special 
experts  have  selected  cities  on  a  basis  of  an  estimate  of  population 
made  at  the  time  the  compilation  of  the  tables  was  begun. 

The  full  reports  of  the  statistics  of  the  equipment  of  all  roads  fur- 
nishing rapid-transit  facilities,  and  of  their  operations  for  the  single 
fiscal  year  ending  1890,  are  being  collected,  and  the  census  authori- 
ties will  present  them  in  future  exhibits. 

Prof.  Adams  announces,  and  with  truth,  that  street  railways  have 
never  before  been  brought  within  the  scope  of  the  census  statistics 
of  transportation,  and  he  points  out  the  peculiar  difficulties  which 
were  met  with  in  collecting  the  facts  already  presented.  Some  of 
these  difficulties  arose  from  the  ambiguity  of  designation,  as  "length 


1 68  ELEC TRIG  RA IL  WA  Y  ENGINEERING. 

of  line,"  "length  of  single  track"  and  "length  of  double  track," 
when  applied  to  street  railways ;  and  on  account  of  such  ambiguities 
the  attempt  has  been  made  to  fix  upon  some  definite  nomenclature  by 
which  careful  returns  can  be  secured.  The  conclusion  is,  that  "  length 
of  line"  means  length  of  road-bed,  or,  in  case  of  railways  running 
entirely  upon  streets,  the  length  of  street  occupied;  that  "length 
of  single  track "  means  the  length  of  that  portion  of  the  road-bed 
or  street  laid  with  one  track  only;  and  that  "length  of  double  track" 
means  the  length  of  that  portion  of  the  road-bed  or  street  laid  with 
two  tracks.  In  determining  the  total  length  of  tracks,  switches 
and  sidings  have  been  included,  and  thus  double  track  has  been 
reckoned   as  two  tracks. 

On  December  31,  1889,  476  cities  and  towns  in  the  United  States 
possessed  rapid-transit  facilities,  the  total  number  of  railways  in 
independent  operation  being  807.  Many  railroads,  however,  (and 
the  number  is  stated  at  286.  having  a  total  length  of  3,150.93  miles, 
and  13  having  a  total  length  of  135.75  miles),  have  as  yet  made  no 
report ;  while  in  six  the  returns  received  were  so  imperfect  that  it 
was  necessary  to  supplement  them  by  approximations.  This  state- 
ment accounts  for  the  bulletins  not  presenting  statistics  for  a  series 
of  years  for  the  whole  number  of  railroads  in  the  country,  and  56 
cities  have  been  selected  for  which  the  reports  are  comparatively 
complete.  Suburban  lines  tributary  to  large  cities,  but  without  their 
corporate  limits,  as  well  as  those  actually  within  the  cities,  are 
included  in  the  statement ;  as,  for  instance,  where  cities  situated 
close  together  have  a  common  street  railway  system,  it  has  not  been 
thought  best  by  the  experts  to  attempt  a  separation  in  the  tables. 
Therefore  Pittsburg  and  Allegheny,  in  Pennsylvania,  are  treated  as 
one  city,  as  are  also  Newark  and  Elizabeth,  in  New  Jersey.  The 
street  railway  lines  comprehended  in  Boston  traverse  also  Lynn, 
Cambridge  and  other  suburban  places. 

The  aggregate  mileage  of  the  fifty-six  cities  selected  for  each  year 
from  1880  to  1889,  with  the  increase  and  percentage  of  increase,  is 
shown  in  the  follovvine:  table  : 


RAPID    TRANSIT. 


16» 


YEAR. 


1880. 
1881. 
1882, 
1883, 
1884. 
1885, 
1886, 
1887  , 
1888, 
1889. 


TOTAL 
MILEAGE. 


Total. 


1,689.54 

1,765-95 
1,875.10 
1,941.49 

2,031.84 
2,149.66 
2,289.91 

2,1597.16 
2,854.94 
3.150-93 


76.41 

109.15 

66.39 

90-35 

117.82 
140.25 

307-2 s 
257.78 
295.99 


PER  CENT. 


1,461.39 


4.52 
6.18 

3-54 
4-65 
5.80 
6.52 

13-42 
9-93 

10.37 


86.50 


It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  in  order  to  make  the  foregoing  state- 
ment, the  statistics  of  some  of  the  cities  have  been  re-enforced  by 
sources  other  than  the  census  returns. 

By  the  above  table  it  will  be  seen  that  from  1,689.54,  total  mileage 
in  the  fifty-six  cities  selected  in  1880,  the  growth  has  been  ta 
3*150- 93  miles  in  1889.  This  is  an  increase  of  1,461.39  miles,  or 
86.50  per  cent.  These  figures  show  conclusively  the  rapidly  increas- 
ing wants  of  cities. 

The  five  leading  cities  of  the  country  have  a  mileage  assigned 
them  as  follows:  Philadelphia,  283.47;  Boston,  200.86;  Chicago, 
184.78;  New  York,  177.10;  Brooklyn,  164.44.  These  are  figures 
for  1889,  and  they  show  the  total  length  of  line  ;  but  the  total  length 
of  all  tracks,  including  sidings,  for  the  same  cities,  is  as  follows  : 
New  York,  368.62;  Chicago,  365.50;  Boston,  329.47;  Brooklyn^ 
324.63;  Philadelphia,  324.21.  From  these  figures  we  find  that  the 
position  of  Philadelphia  in  the  last  statement  is  reversed,  and  that 
New  York  steps  from  the  fourth  place  in  the  five  cities  named  to  the 
first  place ;  and  this  brings  out  a  peculiarity  of  the  Philadelphia 
roads  and,  to  some  extent,  the  roads  of  Boston,  the  tracks  in  these 
cities,  to  a  large  extent,  occupying  different  streets  in  going  to  and 
from  a  terminus  instead  of  being  laid  upon  the  same  street. 

The  motive  power  used  on  the  total  mileage  given  is  divided  as 
follows : 


170 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


MOTIVE-POWER. 


Animal  power 

Electricity 

Cable 

Steam  (elevated  roads) 
Steam  (surface  roads). 

Total 


The  relative  economy  of  cable,  electric  and  animal  motive  power 
has  been  brought  out  by  the  census  officers,  but  the  superintendent 
remarks,  in  issuing  the  bulletins  on  this  subject,  that  it  is  still  too 
early  to  form  a  final  judgment  regarding  the  value  of  electric  motive 
power  for  street  railways ;  yet  he  feels  that  the  statistics  presented 
being,  as  they  are,  a  record  of  actual  experience,  throw  considerable 
light  upon  the  matter  of  economy.  The  lack  of  uniform  accounts  of 
railways  prevents  the  use  of  the  data  already  collected  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  final  judgment ;  while  again,  the  electric  railways,  being 
nearly  all  new,  have  not  been  in  operation  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  afford  final  conclusions  as  to  economy  of  service,  and  as  Prof. 
Adams  points  out,  most  electric  railways  are  the  successors  of  roads 
operated  by  horses,  the  horses  being  still  retained  on  a  part  of  the 
lines  and  the  expense  incurred  for  horse-power  being  intermixed  with 
that  incurred  for  electric  power.  For  these  reasons  a  final  judg- 
ment on  the  figures  given  must  not  be  reached ;  yet  the  facts  pre- 
sented are  indicative  of  what  may  be  expected. 

The  bulletin  relating  to  the  relative  economy  of  different  motive 
powers  embraces  50  lines  of  street  railway,  10  of  which  are  operated 
by  cable,  10  by  electricity,  and  30  by  animal  power;  and  from  the 
various  tables  presented,  showing  length,  steepest  grade,  number  of 
cars,  car  mileage,  number  of  passengers  carried,  operating  expenses, 
etc.,  a  crystallized  statement  (which  statement,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, is  not  a  complete  and  accurate  one)  is  drawn,  showing  that 
the  operating  expense  per  car  mile  of  cable  railways  is  14.12  cents; 
of  electric  railways,  13.21  cents;  and  of  animal  power,    18.16  cents; 


RAPID    TRANSIT.  171 

while  the  operating  expenses  per  passenger  carried  is,  for  cable  rail- 
ways, 3.22  cents;  for  electric  railways,  3.82  cents;  and  for  railways 
operated  by  animal  power,  3.67  cents.  It  will  surprise  many  to  learn 
that  in  operation  both  cable  and  electric  railways  show  a  greater 
economy  than  railways  operated  by  animal  power;  but  in  the  full 
tables  given  in  the  bulletins  it  is  noticeable  that  electric  railways 
which  have  the  least  expense  per  car  mile  have  the  greatest  expense 
per  passenger  carried.  So  the  statement  of  the  ratio  between  pas- 
sengers carried  and  car  mileage  becomes  essential,  and  from  this  it 
appears  that  electric  railways  show  a  less  number  of  passengers  per 
car  mile  that  either  of  the  other  classes,  the  number  of  passengers 
carried  per  car  mile  being,  for  cable  railways,  4.38;  for  electric 
railways,  3.46 ;  and  for  railways  operated  by  animal  power,  4.95. 
Thus  the  electric  railways  carry  a  less  number  of  passengers  per  car 
mile  than  either  of  those  operated  by  cable  or  by  animal  power. 
The  assumption  is  made  in  the  census  report  that  this  variation  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  electric  roads,  being  new,  occupy  lines 
over  which  the  passenger  traffic  has  been  but  partly  developed. 

The  expense  per  car  mile  and  per  passenger,  the  cost  of  road  and 
equipment,  and  the  volume  of  passenger  traffic  are  essential  for  a 
full  understanding  of  the  financial  side  of  the  question.  From  the 
statistics  reported  it  is  seen  that  the  total  cost  of  road  and  equip, 
ment  per  mile  of  line  (meaning  thereby  street  length)  is,  for  cable 
railways,  $350,324.40;  for  electric  railways,  $46,697.59;  and  for  rail- 
ways operated  by  animal  power,  $71,387.38  ;  and  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  per  mile  per  year  is,  for  cable  railways,  1,355,965; 
for  electric  railways,  222,648  ;  and  for  railways  operated  by  animal 
power,  596,563.  From  these  figures  it  appears  to  be  true  that  cable 
railways  attain  their  greatest  eflficiency  where  an  extremely  heavy 
traffic  is  to  be  handled,  and  that  electric  railways  and  those  operated 
by  animal  power  are  used  where  the  traffic  is  not  so  heavy,  or  is 
more  generally  diffused. 

The  operating  expense  per  car  mile  is  :  For  cable  railways,  14.12 
cents;  for  electric  railways,    13.21   cents;  for  railways  operated  by 


172  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

animal  power,  18.16  cents  ;  and  the  operating  expense  per  passenger 
carried  is,  for  the  different  powers  as  named,  respectively,  3.22  cents, 
3.82  cents,  and  3.67  cents,  but  including  interest  charge  per  car  mile 
at  assumed  rate  of  six  per  cent.,  the  sum  of  operating  expense  and 
interest  pfer  car  mile  is  :  For  cable  railways,  20.91  cents  ;  for  electric 
railways,  17.56  cents;  and  for  railways  operated  by  animal  power, 
21.71  cents.  These  charges,  both  actual  and  estimated,  show  a 
somewhat  greater  expense  for  cable  roads  per  car  mile  than  for  elec- 
tric roads ;  but  when  the  interest  charge  is  considered  on  the  basis 
of  passengers  carried,  and  added  to  the  operating  expense,  the  sum 
of  operating  expense  and  interest  per  passenger  is  as  follows  :  For 
cable  railways,  4.77  cents  ;  for  electric  railways,  5.08  cents ;  for  rail- 
ways operated  by  animal  power,  4.39  cents,  showing  a  less  cost  for 
operating  expense  and  interest  charge  per  passenger  for  cable  rail- 
ways than  for  electric  railways.  In  the  first  instance  the  greater 
charge  for  cable  railways  is  on  account  of  the  much  greater  cost  and 
equipment  per  mile,  while  the  greater  number  of  passengers  carried 
by  cable  railways  per  mile  reduces  the  ratio  of  expense  on  the  pas- 
senger basis. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  complete  statistics  relating  to  rapid 
transit  in  cities  will  enable  the  public  to  determine,  with  reasonable 
accuracy,  the  relative  economy  of  the  different  powers  used.  This  is 
a  question  which  is  vital  to  the  interest  of  city  and  suburban  com- 
munities, and  which  leads  to  the  ethical  consideration  of  the  problem 
of  rapid  transit.  That  power  must  eventually  be  used  by  which  pas- 
sengers can  be  transported  from  their  homes  to  their  places  of  busi- 
ness and  return  at  the  least  possible  expense  and  the  greatest  possi- 
ble safety  commensurate  with  high  speed. 

The  necessity  of  living  in  sanitary  localities,  in  moral  and  well- 
regulated  communities,  where  children  can  have  all  the  advantages  of 
church  and  school,  of  light  and  air,  becomes  more  and  more  evident 
as  municipal  governments  undertake  to  solve  the  problems  that  are 
pressing  upon  them.  If  it  be  desirable  to  distribute  the  population 
of  congested  districts,  through  country  districts,  means  must  be  pro- 


RAPID    TRANSIT.  173 

vided  for  safe,  rapid  and  cheap  transit  to  the  country  districts ;  or 
inversely,  if  it  be  desirable  to  build  up  the  suburban  areas,  the  peo- 
ple must  be  supplied  with  cheap  and  convenient  means  of  reaching 
the  localities  within  which  they  earn  their  living. 

The  reduction  of  fares,  through  improved  means  of  rapid  transit, 
however  desirable,  is  really  a  minor  question.  It  is  probably  true, 
that  by  a  slight  reduction  from  a  five-cent  fare  the  head  of  a  family 
engaged  in  mechanical  labor,  earning  perhaps  five  or  six  hundred 
dollars  per  annum,  might  save  enough  to  pay  taxes,  or  to  offset 
church  and  society  assessments,  or  to  furnish  his  family  with  boots 
and  shoes,  in  any  event  extending  his  power />r<7  tanto  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  his  family ;  but  he  does  more  than  this  when  speed  is  taken 
into  consideration.  By  the  old  methods  of  transit  from  suburbs  to 
the  heart  of  a  city,  a  workingman  going  into  the  city  of  Boston  was 
practically  obliged,  while  working  ten  hours  at  his  usual  occupation, 
to  spend  an  hour  on  the  horse  railway,  when  now,  on  one  line,  by  the 
use  of  the  electric  car,  he  can  go  to  and  return  from  his  place  of 
work  in  half  that  time,  thereby  actually  adding  to  his  own  time  half 
an  hour  each  day,  practically  reducing  his  working  time  from  eleven 
hours  to  ten  and  a  half  hours  without  reduction  of  wages  and  without 
increased  expense  for  transportation.  The  question  of  rapid  transit, 
therefore,  as  seen  by  this  simple  illustration,  becomes  an  ethical  con- 
sideration ;  for  if  there  is  anything  to  be  gained  by  adding  to  the 
time  which  men  have  at  their  disposal  for  their  own  purposes,  for 
intercourse  with  their  families,  for  social  improvement,  for  every- 
thing for  which  leisure  is  supposed  to  be  used,  then  the  question  of 
rapid  transit  is  one  of  far  greater  importance  than  that  of  saving 
money  either  to  the  man  who  uses  transportation  or  to  the  company 
that  secures  dividends  upon  its  stock.  I  believe,  therefore,  that  all 
efforts  that  are  being  made  to  secure  convenient  and  cheap  rapid 
transit  in  great  cities  are  those  which  should  bring  to  their  support 
the  help  of  all  men  who  are  seeking  the  improvement  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  masses. 

Business   extension   in  cities  is  crowding  the  street  area.     This 


174  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

area  is  precisely  the  same  in  old  cities  like  Boston,  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, etc.,  for  the  present  population  and  business  operations  that 
existed  a  century  ago.  The  crowding  of  streets  with  the  transporta- 
tion essential  for  the  movement  of  goods  increases  with  great 
rapidity,  and  when  the  crowding  is  augmented,  perhaps  doubled,  by 
the  presence  of  the  means  of  transporting  passengers,  the  difficulties 
involved  are  almost  appalling.  With  every  increase  of  population 
the  companies  having  in  charge  transportation  facilities  must,  in 
order  to  accommodate  the  public,  add  more  cars  and  more  animals 
— if  animals  are  the  motive  power — and  so  rapidly  add  to  the  already 
crowded  condition  of  streets.  This  process  is  one  which  attacks  the 
health  and  the  safety  of  the  people.  The  presence  of  so  many  horses 
constantly  moving  through  the  streets  is  a  very  serious  matter.  The 
vitiation  of  the  air  by  the  presence  of  so  many  animals  is  alone  a 
sufficient  reason  for  their  removal,  while  the  clogged  condition  of  the 
streets  impedes  business,  whether  carried  on  with  teams  or  on  foot, 
and  involves  the  safety  of  life  and  limb.  It  is  a  positive  necessity, 
therefore,  from  this  point  of  view  alone,  that  the  problems  connected 
with  rapid  transit  should  be  speedily  solved,  and  this  feature  de- 
mands the  efforts  and  the  support  of  sanitarians.  With  the  removal 
of  tracks  from  the  surface,  and  with  tunnels  built  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  be  free  from  the  dampness  of  the  old  form  of  tunnel,  as  has 
been  done  in  London,  and  to  secure  light  and  air  and  be  easy  of 
access,  all  the  unsanitary  conditions  of  street  railway  traffic  will  be 
at  once  and  forever  removed  ;  and  if  private  capital  cannot  be  inter- 
ested to  a  sufficient  extent  to  undertake  such  measures,  then  munici- 
pal governments  must  see  to  it  that  the  health  of  the  community  is 
not  endangered  by  surface  traffic.  When  this  question  is  allied  to 
the  ethical  one,  and  when  one  considers  the  advantages  to  be  gained, 
first,  through  securing  rapid  transit  from  the  crowded  portions  of 
cities  to  the  suburbs,  and,  second,  by  removing  rapid  transit 
traffic  from  the  surface  to  underground  viaducts,  the  importance  of 
the  whole  problem  becomes  clearly  apparent,  and  not  only  the  impor- 
tance of  the  problem  but  the  necessity  of  its  solution. 


RAPID    TRANSIT.  175 

The  statistics  given  by  the  census  officers  seem  to  indicate  that  as 
a  matter  of  economy  the  very  best  equipment  can  be  used  without 
increasing  the  tax  upon  individual  passengers.  If  underground  roads 
can  be  used  without  at  first  increasing  such  tax,  and  still  offer  a 
reasonable  compensation  for  capital  invested,  the  gains  to  the  people 
at  large  offer  an  inducement  to  capital,  while  the  many  considerations 
of  health  and  morals  offer  men  who  desire  to  use  their  means  for  the 
benefit  of  their  kind  an  opportunity  that  has  not  existed  in  the  past. 
From  my  knowledge  of  some  of  the  men  who  have  been  foremost  in 
projecting  lines  of  rapid  transit,  but  who  have  been  accused  of  doing 
it  for  entirely  selfish  motives,  I  learn  that  public  benevolence  has 
influenced  them  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  induce  them  to  take  the 
great  risks  which  are  apparently  involved.  I  believe  that  could  the 
real,  underlying  patriotism  of  such  men  be  known,  and  the  confidence 
of  the  public  in  their  willingness  to  do  work  for  the  public  benefit 
gained,  the  solution  of  the  rapid  transit  problem  would  be  much 
easier. 

Capital  is  securing  less  and  less  margin  of  profit  through  its  invest- 
ments, whether  in  manufacturing  or  in  other  enterprises.  The  capi- 
talist is  satisfied  with  a  safe  and  sure  return  of  from  three  to  five  per 
cent,  and  the  spirit  of  altruism,  which  seems  to  be  growing  more  and 
more  rapidly  among  our  millionaires,  and  which  is  leading  them  to 
the  establishment  of  great  institutions  for  public  good,  will  lead  them 
ultimately  to  such  operations  as  those  essential  to  secure  the  best 
results  of  rapid  transit.  Private  capital,  encouraged  and  protected 
by  public  sentiment  and  municipal  enactments,  may  be  capable  of 
solving  this  problem.-  If  it  is  not,  then  public  sentiment,  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  the  people  at  large,  not  only  from  an  economic 
point  of  view,  but  from  sanitary  and  ethical  considerations,  will  insist 
upon  a  public  solution  of  the  question.  It  is  an  important  study,  and 
the  officers  of  the  eleventh  census  are  entitled  to  great  credit  for 
their  efforts  to  bring  out  the  partial  results  they  have  published,  and 
later,  to  give  to  the  country  the  full  data  relative  to  rapid  transit  in 
cities. 


176  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 


APPENDIX   E. 

ELECTRIC    STREET    RAILWAYS    AS    INVESTMENTS.* 
BY   LEMUEL  WILLIAM   SERRELL,    M.    E. 

OF  the  forms  of  motive-power  that  have  been  tried  to  take  the 
place  of  the  horse  may  be  mentioned  the  gas  and  compressed- 
air  motors,  the  cable,  the  electric  conduit,  the  storage  battery  and  the 
trolley  road.  The  gas  and  compressed-air  systems  are  probably  the 
oldest,  and  for  the  past  twenty  years  they  have  been  pushed  by  their 
advocates  and  put  upon  roads,  on  trial,  all  over  this  country  and 
Europe  ;  yet  to-day  there  are  no  roads  in  operation  by  either  motor 
—  except  experimentally  —  to  show  merits  sufficient  to  cause  their 
adoption. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  suitable  electric  conduit  will  be  invented 
some  day,  but  we  need  no  better  instances  of  its  failure  in  the  past 
than  the  abandoned  conduit  in  Fulton  Street,  New  York,  and  the 
receipted  bills  of  the  West  End  Company,  of  Boston,  for  the  sale 
of  the  old  iron  that  had  once  been  used  for  a  similar  purpose. 

The  history  of  the  storage  battery  gives  the  same  results.  It  has 
been  favored  because  it  is  an  ideal  system.  There  is  scarcely  a  large 
city  in  the  country  where  storage-battery  cars  have  not  been  run 
experimentally,  and  yet  it  has  not  been  adopted  because  it  has 
proved  impracticable ;  while  the  trolley  road,  starting  side  by  side 
with  the  storage  battery,  with  all  the  maledictions  that  could  be 
hurled  upon  it,  has  established  itself  as  the  only  practical  method  of 
electric  traction.  The  reported  deadliness  of  the  overhead  wire  has 
been  proved  a  myth,  and  the  objections  to  the  system  now  are  only 
aesthetic  ones. 

Let  us  look  briefly  at  what  has  been  done  in  the  case  of  electric 

•  Abstract  from  the  Engitutring  Magatiru  for  May,  1892. 


STREET  RAILWAYS  AS  INVESTMENTS.  177 

trolley  railways.  Scarcely  five  years  have  elapsed  since  it  was  shown 
that  the  trolley  system  could  be  made  a  practical  success  as  a  means  of 
propelling  cars,  and  yet  to-day  more  than  450  roads  are  reported  as 
being  operated  by  electric  power,  having  a  total  mileage  of  more 
than  3,600  miles  and  employing  nearly  5,800  motor  cars.  Thus 
about  three-eighths  of  the  street  railways  in  this  country  are  now 
operated  by  the  trolley  system.  The  old  tram  rails  are  being 
replaced  by  better  forms  of  construction,  handsome  cars  measuring 
thirty  feet  in  length  replace  the  old  style  of  horse  cars,  and  a  speed 
double  that  attainable  with  horses  is  used  with  perfect  safety  in 
equipping  street  roads  with  the  trolley  system.  Many  of  our  large 
cities  are  already  so  equipped,  and  it  is  estimated  that  $155,000,000 
has  already  been  expended.  It  has  also  been  proposed  that  the 
experiment  be  tried  to  ascertain  if  electricity  cannot  be  used  prac- 
tically to  supersede  steam  on  railways.  Many  of  us  doubtless  will 
see  this  accomplished,  although  probably  not  until  electricity  can  be 
generated  directly  from  coal,  without  the  use  of  the  steam  boiler,  in 
which  even  a  train  of  .cars  so  propelled,  it  is  estimated,  will  move  at 
least  five  miles  for  the  same  cost  that  is  now  required  to  move  a  train 
of  the  same  weight  one  mile  by  steam.  Neighboring  cities  ten  and 
fifteen  miles  apart  have  been  connected  together  by  such  roads. 
A  fifty-mile  electric  road  is  proposed  between  Worcester  and  Provi- 
dence ;  another  forty  miles  long,  is  being  built  between  Tacoma  and 
Seattle,  and  an  electric  road  is  projected  between  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis,  to  be  built  in  a  straight  line,  over  which  a  speed  of  more  than 
a  hundred  miles  an  hour  is  expected  to  be  attained. 

Thus  we  see  developing  from  the  old  tram  roads  a  system  of  roads 
operated  with  electric  power  which  bids  fair  to  be  of  as  great,  if  not 
of  greater  importance  to  the  world  than  the  present  steam  railroads, 
which  are  a  development  from  the  same  original  tram  road.  The 
census  of  1890  shows  that  the  street  railways  of  New  York  City 
carried  during  the  year  two  thousand  million  passengers,  or  more 
than  the  entire  population  of  the  globe,  and  about  four  times  as 
many  passengers  as  were  carried  on  the  steam  roads  of  the  entire 


178  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

country,  this  number  of  passengers  having  been  two  hundred  and 
fifty  millions.  The  steam  railway  track  mileage  is  about  sixteen 
times  as  great  as  that  of  the  street  railway.  The  street  car  lines  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  carry  more  passen- 
gers per  annum  than  all  the  steam  roads  of  their  respective  States. 
Cable  roads  are  usually  built  in  crowded  cities  where  it  has  become 
necessary  to  dispose  of  horses  and  the  right  for  the  overhead  wire 
could  not  be  obtained.  No  one  would  think  for  a  moment,  however^ 
of  building  a  cable  road  if  a  franchise  could  be  obtained  for  a  trolley 
road,  as  they  cannot  carry  any  more  people,  route  for  route,  than  the 
electric  road,  and  cost  nearly  ten  times  as  much  to  build. 

The  value  of  street  railway  securities  as  safe  investments  is  only 
beginning  to  be  generally  appreciated.  In  the  past  they  seldom 
have  been  offered  to  the  public.  The  fact  that  a  road  once  located 
upon  a  principal  thoroughfare  in  a  city  is  fixed  upon  the  line  of 
personal  travel,  which  cannot  be  changed  by  the  building  of  a  parallel 
line  upon  another  street,  has  not  been  brought  forcibly  enough 
before  us  to  be  generally  appreciated.  The  fact  is  that  a  street  rail- 
way located  upon  a  principal  thoroughfare,  equipped  with  modern 
appliances  for  rapid  transit,  runs  upon  a  highway  through  which 
people  move,  and  they  will  ride  on  these  cars  rather  than  those  of  a 
parallel  line  on  another  street.  The  securities  on  such  a  property, 
when  once  on  a  paying  basis,  make  a  safer  investment  than  steam 
railroad  bonds,  the  value  of  which  are  always  liable  to  be  impaired 
by  rate  wars  and  by  the  building  of  parallel  lines.  Steam  railroads 
run  between  terminals  and  not  upon  fixed  lines  of  personal  travel, 
and  where  terminal  facilities  can  be  secured  in  cities,  parallel  lines 
are  always  likely  to  be  built. 

When  a  city  reaches  a  population  of  25,000,  its  growth  and  busi- 
ness prosperity  may  safely  be  expected  to  increase  steadily,  and  the 
securities  on  street  railroads  on  a  paying  basis  and  located  as  above 
described,  are  sure  to  rise  in  value  The  tendency  of  human  nature 
is  also  to  locate  and  build  close  to  this  line  of  travel,  causing  the 
thoroughfare  to  become  more  important  as  the  city  grows. 


STREET  RAILWAYS  AS  INVESTMENTS.  179 

The  introduction  of  electricity  as  a  means  of  rapid  transit  has 
done,  and  is  doing  much  to  bring  this  class  of  securities  before  the 
investing  public.     . 

The  remarkable  cheapness  with  which  electric  roads  can  be 
operated  as  compared  with  horse  roads  and  the  cheapness  of  the 
first  cost  as  compared  with  cable  roads  has  led  to  the  building  of 
more  than  3,600  miles  of  such  roads  within  the  past  five  years.  The 
earnings  for  the  capital  invested  are  larger  for  electric  street  railways 
than  for  steam,  horse  or  cable  roads,  and  the  securities  on  such 
properties  are  now  beginning  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  general 
public.  The  cost  of  building  and  equipping  street  roads  varies  con- 
siderably with  different  local  conditions.  A  comparison  of  the 
average  cost  of  building  and  equipping  cable,  electric  and  horse  rail- 
ways per  mile  of  track,  taken  from  the  recent  census  reports,  is  given 
below  : 

Cable  roads $350,cxx> 

Electric  roads 30,000 

Horse  roads 41,000 

The  above  represents  a  fair  average  for  paved  streets  in  cities 
proper.  For  suburban  travel  the  cost  per  mile  of  track  and  electric 
equipment  need  not  exceed  ;^20,ooo. 

The  earnings  of  the  various  properties  may  best  be  expressed  by 
the  ratio  of  their  operating  expenses  to  their  gross  receipts.  It  is 
hard  to  get  figures  giving  this  ratio  for  cable  roads.  The  only  ones 
published  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  are  for  Denver,  Col.,  where 
this  ratio  is  reported  as  j"]  per  cent,  while  for  the  electric  lines 
owned  by  the  same  company  it  is  reported  at  55  per  cent.  Cable 
roads  cost  almost  as  much  as  elevated  railroads,  yet  in  some  places 
they  both  are  bonded  for  more  than  $1,000,000  per  mile  and  have 
dividend  stocks.  The  same  ratio  for  horse  railroads  we  find,  by 
taking  the  average  of  over  fifty  roads  from  the  reports  of  railroad 
commissioners,  is  80  per  cent. 

A  large  number  of  reports  have  been  published  on  electric  roads, 
placing  this  ratio  at  about  50  per  cent.     From  my  own  investiga- 


180  ELECTRIC   RAILWAY  ENGINEERING. 

tion  I  have  found  that  these  figures  were  true  for  certain  months, 
but  they  do  not  represent  the  average  for  the  whole  year,  and  that  in 
the  section  of  the  country  where  snow  must  be  removed  from  the 
tracks  the  year's  average  is  from  60  per  cent  to  65  per  cent.  The 
increase  in  the  net  earnings  in  cities  Hke  Boston  per  revenue  car 
mile  run  for  electric  road  over  horse  roads  averages  50  per  cent. 
This  enormous  increase  of  earning  capacity  has  given  a  well  merited 
"  boom  "  to  the  electric  railway,  but  at  the  same  time  has  opened  an 
opportunity  for  objectionable  speculation,  the  same  as  surrounded 
the  steam  railroads,  which  caused  the  wrecking  of  so  many  fortunes 
and  gave  the  opportunity  for  great  railroad  steals,  followed  by 
reorganizations  and  "freeze-outs." 

Electric  railway  securities  are  comparatively  a  new  thing,  and 
being  so  little  known  are  looked  upon  as  not  being  desirable.  The 
skepticism  that  has  surrounded  the  mysterious  action  of  electricity 
has  not  furnished  the  same  fertile  basis  upon  which  to  float  securities 
as  the  development  of  commerce  by  building  steam  railroads. 
Therefore  the  people  who  have  attempted  to  make  more  than  their 
share  of  profit  by  aping  the  plan  upon  which  steam  roads  were  built 
probably  will  have  a  heavy  burden  to  carry  for  some  time.  But 
there  are  elements  of  security  in  a  well-selected  street  railway  bond 
which  make  it  as  good  an  investment  as  any  water  works  or  munici- 
pal bond  and  safer  than  steam  railways. 

Bonds  on  electric  railways  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 

1.  Bonds  on  new  roads  built  from  franchises,  whose  earnings  are 
problematical. 

2.  Bonds  on  reorganized  horse  roads,  whose  net  earnings  with 
horses  have  not  been  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  their  bonded 
debt  when  equipped  with  electricity. 

3.  Bonds  on  reorganized  horse  roads,  whose  net  earnings  with 
electricity  are  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  their  bonded  debt 
when  equipped  with  electricity. 

Projectors  of  a  road  of  the  first  class  need  not  expect  to  sell  their 


STREET  RAILWAYS  AS  INVESTMENTS.  181 

securities,  except  at  a  great  sacrifice,  until  the  road  shall  have  been 
in  operation  long  enough  to  demonstrate  its  earning  capacity,  and 
even  then  the  securities  should  not  be  purchased  without  careful 
personal  examination  and  endorsement  by  responsible  parties. 

Bonds  on  roads  of  the  second  class  may  be  considered  as  very 
good  and  safe  investments,  where  the  interest  charges  on  the  bonds 
do  not  exceed  by  more  than  one-fourth  the  net  earnings  of  the 
roads  when  operated  with  horses.  Capitalists  will  run  very  little 
risk  in  undertaking  the  financiering  of  roads  of  this  class  when  the 
above  restriction  is  observed  and  the  cities  are  of  good  size  and  well 
known.  The  stock  on  such  roads  probably  will  be  dividend  stocks 
from  the  very  start. 

Bonds  on  roads  of  the  third  class  are  of  the  best  class  and  are  not 
excelled  by  any  other  form  of  investment.  Such  bonds  should  sell 
at  a  premium  and  find  a  very  ready  market,  and  the  stock  should  be 
worth  par. 

When  the  elements  of  security  that  surround  street  railway  bonds 
become  better  appreciated  they  will  be  regarded  among  the  best  and 
most  readily  negotiable  securities  before  the  public.  In  cities  from 
25,000  to  40,000  people  a  comparatively  local  market  must  be  sought, 
but  well-selected  bonds  on  roads  in  cities  having  a  larger  population 
should  find  a  ready  sale  with  the  general  public. 


INDKX 


Armatures,  causes  that  make  it  revolve,  lo. 
ring,   15. 

troubles  with,  what  to  do,  128. 
removing  dust  from,  133. 
Ampere-turns,  17. 
Ammeter,  14. 
Alkaline  zincate,  106. 
Accumulator,  forms  of,  104. 

electro-motive  force  of,  106. 
internal  resistance  of,  106. 
alkaline  zincate,  106. 
lead,  104-106. 

Batteries,  storage,  104-106. 

Boilers,  as  arranged  by  the  West  End  Company,  Boston,  Mass.,  135. 

Boiler  house,    135. 

Brushes,  sparking  at,  128. 

neutral  points  of,  129. 
Burton  Car  Heater,  75-78. 

Cars,  heating  of,  75-78, 

Ford  and  Washburn  Storage,  106-109. 

seating  capacity,  123. 

wiring  of,  98-103. 
Clamping  cars,  33. 
Cables  for  car  wiring,  98. 
Carbon  brushes,  129. 
Carbon  dust,  129. 
Cut-outs,  automatic,  9. 
Cut-out  switches,  99. 
Controlling  switches,  99. 
Commutator,  133. 

trouble  at,  128. 


INDEX.  183 


Current,  path  of,  in  car  circuit,  103. 

methods  of  distributing  on  the  line,  7-10. 

indicator,  134. 
Crosses,  for  trolley  wire,  t^t^. 
Collisions,  how  avoided,  127. 
Contact,  imperfect,  125. 

Drop  of  potential,  134. 
Dynamos,  15. 

railway,  15-25. 

shunt- wound,  15. 

series-wound,  15. 

compound-wound,  17. 

Thomson- Houston  Railway,  19. 

The  Mather  Railway,  21. 

Westinghouse  multipolar,  21-23. 

Edison  Railway,  25. 

Short  railway,  17-19. 

care  of,  132-133. 

Electric  railway,  145. 

history  of,  145-148. 
as  investments,  176. 
Electric  plant,  135. 

West  End,  Boston,  Mass.,  135-136. 
Engine,  136. 

Reynolds  &  Corliss,  136. 
Electro-motive  force,  15. 

amount  of,  for  railway  work,  15. 

Freight  locomotive,  84. 

Thomson-Houston,  84-89. 
The  Edison,  89-91. 
Fenders,  149. 

experiments  with,  149-150. 
Feeders,  9. 

use  of,  34-35- 
Field  Circuit,  15-17. 

magnets,  15. 
Force,  electro-motive,  15. 
Frogs,  zi. 

for  line  construction,  33. 

Guard  wires,  36. 


184  INDEX. 


Gear,  41. 

use  of,  41. 

Heating,  71. 

of  rheostat,  7 1 . 
of  cars,  75-78. 
of  fields,  130. 
of  ammeters,  134. 

Indicators,  14. 

of  currents,  134. 
Insulators,  of  tools,  134. 

of  trolley  wire,  29-32. 
difficulties  of  good,  98. 
of  base  of  dynamos,  132. 
oil  as  an  insulator,  133. 
Imperfect  contact,  125. 

causes  of,  125. 

Locomotive,  84. 

for  heavy  traction,  84. 

new  TOO  h,  p.  Thomson-Houston  freight,  84-89. 
The  Edison  mining,  89-91. 
Lightning  arrester,  station,  11. 
on  car,  125. 
grounded,  125. 
Line,  7. 

construction  of,  26-40. 

plan  of  single  curve  overhead,  38. 

plan  of  double  curve  overhead,  39. 

Magnetic  field,  15. 
Magnetic  effect,  15. 
Motor,  electric,  41. 

construction  of,  41.  >  . 

Wightman  single  railway,  41-47. 

Thomson-Houston  single  reduction  gear  railway,  47-50. 

Thomson- Houston  waterproof,  51-53. 

Westinghouse  four-pole  single,  53-61. 

Edison  slow  speed  single  rod,  61-63. 

Short  gearless,  63-69. 

arrangement  of  field  spools,  126-127. 

street  car,  41-69. 

difficulties  with,  128-129, 


INDEX.  185 


Power  station,  ii. 

plan  for,  small,  12. 
Poles,  26. 

construction  of,  26. 

size,  27. 

arrangements  of,  27. 

wooden,  27-30. 

Railroading,  electric,  138. 

safety  of,  138-143. 
high-speed,  144. 
history  of,  145-148. 
Rheostat,  70. 

resistance  of,  70. 
heating,  70, 
field,  71. 
car,  71, 

Thomson- Houston  Railway,  72-74. 
Short  Electric  Railway,  74. 
Resistance  of  rheostat,  70. 
Roads,  no. 

illustrative,  11 0-123. 
rapid  transit,  no- 11 6. 
experiments  of  storage  battery  on,  106-109. 
Rails  for  electric  lines,  36-37. 

objections  to  using  them  for  ground  circuit,  40. 

Steam  engine,  136. 

Reynolds  &  Corliss,  136. 
Storage  battery,  104-106. 
car,  107. 

Ford  &  Washburn's,  106-109. 
Street  railway,  123. 

dynamos  for,  15-25. 

West  End,  Boston,  123-136. 

Lynn  &  Boston,  123. 
Street  car  motors,  methods  of  controlling,  151. 

Transit,  rapid,  no,  116,  144. 
Trolley,  described,  9-10. 

the  wire,  9. 

apparatus,  79-83. 

poles,  79-83. 


186  INDEX. 

Trolley,  The  Rae,  79. 

The  Boston,  81-82. 

The  Baker,  81-82. 

Common  Sense,  81-82. 

The  Short  Sliding,  82. 

old  form  of,  81. 

The  Wightman,  83. 
Tracks,  36-37. 
Traction,  84. 

locomotives  by  heavy,  84. 
by  storage  batteries,  106-109. 
Trucks,  92-97. 

The  Rae,  94. 

The  Radial  Car,  94. 

The  Bogie,  94. 

The  Brill  Car  Co.,  97. 

Winding,  15. 

for  series  dynamos,  15. 
for  compound  dynamos,  17. 
for  shunt  dynamos,  15. 


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12.  Historical  Notes. 

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«.«««^°*J°i*'^*^'°°  •  l»*8torical  notes ;  physical  theory  of  dynamo-electric  machines :  actions  and 
!^2ir*^  i?  *  armature;  magnetic  principles,  and  the  magnetic  properties  of  iron:  the 
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f^^^Ti'  "' "^"'*®!;?  flynamos, (continuous  currenf);  miscellaneous  dvnamosT  electric  motors 
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regulators  for  dynamos ;  testing  dynamos  and  motors ;  management  of  dynamos. 

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